Grim visitors
by Morlin
Summary: Aizen may be gone but that doesn't mean that life has gotten any easier for Ichigo and his friends. War in Hueco Mundo, Soul Society under investigation and Ichigo's hollow's growing stronger. And who's been spying on Karakura town's protectors?
1. Things have sort of changed

**This is a story I've been tinkering with my head for a while and decided to post it up before the cannon manga screws up my ideas. '**

**So here goes. Hope you'll enjoy this first chapter.**

* * *

Imagine an average night in Karakura town. It's mostly silent as the majority of the metropolis' populace have entered their homes and started to consider getting ready for bed. The few cars that are out on the roads aim to get home as quickly as possible. A few citizens will have decided to take a late night walk with their pets. And there is a high probability that a truck-sized, lion-like creature with a terrifying white mask is hunting the spirit of a middle-aged accountant through the main city park.

The poor man had been a ghost long enough to know that most people wouldn't hear him if he screamed. At the same time the instincts from the time when he was alive take over and he yells for help hoping that somebody would hear him. In many occasions he would be right. Luckily for him though this was not such an occasion.

The hollow leaped to pounce on the accountant ghost when all of a sudden it was struck on the side of its head with enough force to send it crashing into a nearby tree. Accompanying the attack was an enthusiastic shout. "HIIIYYAAH!"

"_**Uhhhhhg.**_" The hollow groaned as it got back up on its feet. "_**I wondered when I would encounter a shinigami. No matter, I'm stronger than you could possibly imagine you pompous… huh?**_"

It was understandable that the hollow was confused. In the place of the sword-wielding warrior clad in black that it had expected stood a young girl dressed in a white t-shirt, dark sweatpants and black trainers. She had short, black hair and a determined look on her face. She stood protectively between the hollow and its intended prey with her hands raised in a defensive position.

"_**Who the hell are you?**_" The hollow questioned.

The girl smirked. "I'm Arisawa Tatsuki and if you want to get at this guy you're going to go through me."

For a few moments the hollow just stared at Tatsuki in silence. Then it sort of shrugged and jumped at her.

"Run!" Tatsuki ordered the dead accountant, who complied instantly while offering a confused thank you, as she leaped back to avoid the hollow's assault. As the creature slammed its clawed paws where the spirit-sensitive girl had stood mere moments ago, Tatsuki rammed her elbow into its face.

The attack stunned the hollow long enough for Tatsuki to hit with a roundhouse kick that sent the monstrous spirit reeling.

Tatsuki smirked. "Had enough?" The confidence-dripping question was countered by an ear-splitting roar possessed that forced Tatsuki to cover her ears in pain.

"_**I am Leonlord and I will not be humiliated by a little whelp of a girl!**_" Leonlord swiped at Tatsuki with his claw, which was twice the size of her torso. She was slammed through a park-bench which bruised her up and she was certain that she could hear a few bones break.

As Tatsuki tried establishing which of her body parts were in the most urgent need of mending, the large ominous shadow of her opponent covered her visage.

"Crap." The human said through gritted teeth. She had over-stepped her abilities.

"_**This is what happens when you challenge Leonl… urgkh.**_" The hollow's dramatic killing speech was interrupted with a comical stomping noise as he felt a pair of feet smashing his head to the ground.

In his mind Leonlord once again picture a fierce warrior decked out in all black and swinging an impressive looking sword around. He convinced himself that there was no shame in getting caught off guard by such an able and experienced fighter. Then he heard his new assailant speak.

"Tatsuki-chan, you're not supposed to run ahead like that. I'm not as fast as you are." The sweet, and currently pouty, voice of Inoue Orihime said as she ran off the hollow's head and to her friend's side.

"Heh, and from that display you're not an expert at landing either Orihime." Tatsuki teased with a friendly smirk. "Good timing though." She added as an after-thought.

Leonlord opened his eyes hesitantly, not really sure if he wanted to see what this Orihime looked like. She had no sword, nor was she dressed in black. She was actually wearing a frilly yellow dress, purple sweater, white knee socks and black shoes. Furthering his feelings of humiliation the girl had a quite dainty but still a well-developed figure and even her long strawberry coloured hair looked unthreatening. He needed to conquer the situation and reassert himself as the terrifying consumer of spirits that he is.

"_**I'll devour your soul!**_" He screamed at pounced at Orihime with a gaping mouth.

The long-haired girl reacted quickly. "Santen Kesshun, I reject!" On command three tiny sprites flew from Orihime's hairpin and formed a triangular shield that was large enough for Leonlord to painfully slam his teeth against it.

The surprising set-back made the hollow pause, partly because he needed to rethink the situation but mostly because the whole ordeal was extremely embarrassing. If he'd had time to gather his wits again he might've found a way to bypass the shield and the other girl's fighting skills and eat the two of them for revenge. The chance of that happening was in fact rather small but it still existed.

We will however never know what would've happened if he had been allowed to continue his assault. Moments after he slammed into the shield a shinigami's sealed zanpakuto pierced his mask and ended the saga of Leonlord.

As the hollow's body dispersed into stray spirit particals and it's human soul travelled to Soul Society the short shinigami known as Kuchiki Rukia sheeted her zanpakuto and stared at her two human friends with strict eyes.

Orihime sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and smiled apologetically as the shield dispersed and the sprites returned to her hair-pin. "Hi Kuchiki-san. Uhm, sorry that we're late for patrol duty."

"Late you say." Rukia answered with a low tone. "It seems to me that you started things early."

"Yeah, well. There was an emergency, you know. Couldn't let that poor guy just get eaten like that." Tatsuki defended with a strained but happy voice.

Rukia sighed. "Yes, you're right about that. But you can't just run off half-cocked, especially you Tatsuki. You've just begun your training in spiritual combat. You don't have the experience to do this on your own yet. If it hadn't been for Orihime, whom I suspect you ran away from in your eagerness, things could've ended up a lot worse tonight."

Tatsuki blushed slightly in embarrassament. "I get it. No more running off on my own. But things turned out ok this time. Despite the broken bones, which I would really like mended now please." She said through a gritted smile as she turned to Orihime.

"Oh, right. Sorry!" Orihime squeaked and summoned two new sprites that covered Tatsuki with an orange capsule. The eager girl felt herself getting healed almost instantly.

Rukia shook her head. "I'm letting this one pass because you did save a soul. But know that I'm keeping a close eye on both of you from now." She got down on her knees in a relaxed position.

Orihime's eyes widened, as if she had realised something vitally important. "Ah, if you're doing that then could you keep an extra eye open for the caribbean fruit-flies! I've heard that they've been appearing in Japan."

Rukia and Tatsuki stared at Orihime with dumbfounded expressions, as if another Orihime had spliced herself from the original through mitosis right before their eyes. In short, they reacted as they usually did when Orihime began spouting strange stuff.

The diminutive shinigami took it upon herself to further investigate the strange statement. "What are caribbean fruit-flies and why would they be in Japan?"

"Caribbean fruit-flies are insects that look like dragonflies with butterfly wings in the colour of the rainbow. They're born when then end of rainbows cover meteorite craters. If you let them stay at your home for a month you'll get good luck in sports, economy and tap-dancing. Right now they're migrating to Japan because they've taken a liking to our wasabii." The way she said it reminded the other two girls of a pleasant host for a nature documentary.

Silence ruled for a few minutes before Rukia smiled genuinely. "I'll keep an eye out for them." At that moment the capsule covering Tatsuki dispersed, indicating that she was fully healed.

"Alright." She jumped back onto her feet. "Good as new. Thanks Orihime. Now, let's go kick some hollow ass." As the high-scholar prepared to jump into the air she was pulled back by the shinigami.

"I suggest that we actually follow the procedure we set up last night so I don't have worry too much about you this time." Rukia ordered with an authoritarian voice as she stared at Tatsuki with comically dark eyes.

"Oops. Sorry, again. We'll do it your way." Tatsuki said while giving thumbs up.

"Glad that you agree." Rukia turned to the third member of their party. "You know what to do Orihime."

"Yes, Kuchiki-san." With that Orihime bent her knees, like when preparing for a jump, and leaped high into the air. From the ground the other two watched as their friend's ascent stopped just short of reaching above the city sky-scrapers. At that point the strawberry-haired girl's six sprites took off from her, flying in different directions.

"It's because of her you know." Tatsuki said calmly, gaining Rukia's silent attention. "Five months ago Orihime was abducted and I couldn't do a single thing to help her. I didn't even know what had happened to her. But you and Ichigo and Sado and Uryuu all knew and you saved her. You saved her while I was stuck here waiting." Rukia refrained from mentioning how Orihime had felt similar feelings before her abduction. "That's why I'm rushing away like a fool. I need to get strong. If anything happens to Orihime again, or to any of my friends, I have to be strong." She clenched her fist and locked eyes with Rukia. "I'm not trying to excuse myself. Just wanted you to know."

The shinigami nodded her head and smiled. "I can empathise with that. But I don't think that you need to worry." She looked up at Orihime standing still in the sky. "Things have changed. If there is a next time they won't leave you behind again."

Tatsuki crossed her arms and let her gaze wander to the currently air-born healer as well. "I'd like to see them try."

They said nothing more as the sprites returned to Orihime and she floated down to the ground a little too rapidly. Once the healer had been checked as uninjured by the rough landing the three took off into the air. During all of this they were completely unaware that they had been observed.

* * *

At the edge of the park was a twelve-story tall building. On top of that building's rooftop were two individuals of different sizes. They were both wearing draping, black coloured cloaks with hoods covering their heads.

The taller one stood at the edge of the roof looking through a pair of binoculars pointed in the direction of the park. The hands were wearing white gloves with a highly decorative 1 circled by mistletoe-branches printed on the back of the gloves. A large axe-scythe was strapped to his back.

The smaller one stood back somewhat with arms crossed, massaging them with thin, delicate hands. This one's gloves were decorated with a large rose behind the number 13.

"Is he with them Mich… I mean, lieutenant Graystone?" The smaller one asked with a nervous female voice.

"The anomaly is not present." The one called Graystone answered with a stern, male voice. "Most likely he is currently inactive or hiding himself." He lowered the binoculars. "Not that it would've mattered if he was here or not. After all, we're not allowed to act until proper clearance has been granted. I just wanted to check out the area before the investigation begins."

The female tilted her hooded head, as if not quite understanding what he was talking about. "Have you found anything interesting then?" She asked with cautious curiosity.

It took a few minutes before Graystone answered with an annoyed voice. "No."

"Well, that's ok. It's a pretty night to be out. You know, especially before a mission." The small female reasoned.

"I guess." Graystone's voice faltered a bit. "One could consider it a perfect opportunity to…"

"A great moment for two friends to share." She said contently.

Graystone immediately straightened his back before speaking with a stern voice. "We better get back to the others." He disappeared with a whooshing blur.

"Hey! Wait for me! I it hate when you do that!" The female shouted indignantly and vanished in the same way.

They would return to Karakura town and with them they would bring a conflict that would change the life of Kurosaki Ichigo and everybody around him.

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**Now then you done the read part of R&R, please do the review part as well and tell me what you think.**


	2. The Grim Reapers

**Here we go, second chapter. A lot of OCs are introduced here. Don't worry, they'll be flesh out later on in the story.**

* * *

Jidanbou knew that something was off today before anything had actually happened. His gut told him so. The giant wasn't fooled by universe as it presented him with a bright and sunny day in Soul Society and happy souls wandering past him, though he kindly greeted those that addressed him. He just hoped that he would be able to stand up to whatever it was that was coming. The recent year had showed him that he isn't exactly up to snuff when it comes to the greater threats against Soul Society.

His worries were however unfounded as he would soon discover. A whooshing noise was heard close by and before Jidanbou could look down to identify the source a polite voice addressed him.

"Hello mr. Giant person-san. Me and my companions would very much like to have an audience with the captains of the establishment that you are guarding."

With an understandably suspicious eye Jidanbou gazed down at the six newcomers, his arms crossed. "And who might I say is requesting this audience?" His sceptical expression was met with a thin smile and the answer had him sending out hell butterflies as quickly as possible.

* * *

"You got the same message I take it, Ukitake?" Shunsui asked his white-haired friend.

"All captains please head to the western gate. Important visitors have arrived." Juushiro quoted, receiving a confirming nodd from the relaxed man next to him. "Any idea who it could be?" The captain of the 13th squad asked.

"Difficult to say." Hitsugaya Toushiro answered as he suddenly appeared beside his fellow captains. "Except for the spirit king and possibly all of the noble families at once I can't think of anything that would warrant the attention of all of us."

"Always so serious, captain Hitsugaya. You should loosen up a little." Shunsui said with a smirk.

"No thanks. There's already enough looseness running around in my division." Toushiro muttered silently. It was a wasted effort as the insult's target heard him perfectly despite his effort.

"Hey," Rangiku exclaimed loudly while smacking her captain across the head. "Are you talking about me?" Heated debates could be had discussing which was more indignant at that moment, Rangiku's voice or the look in Toushiro's eye.

"That's something you ask before you smack me across the head! And I'm you're captain! You do not smack me across the head!" Juushiro and Shunsui increased their pace just a smidget, leaving the quarrelling duo behind.

Shunsui chuckled. "They're really cute those two. Don't you agree?"

"It's not the word I would choose." Juushiro smiled as he glanced back at the diminutive captain trying to shake off his busty lieutenant. "But let's focus on the matter at hand. It seems as though the others have arrived before us." He said with a tone more fitting the unusual occurrence as they rounded the corner. Before them the rest of the Gotei 13's captains and lieutenants stood assembled, with two notable exceptions.

Zaraki Kenpachi and the living bubble of energy and destruction that was his young lieutenant were noticeably absent. Either due to their infamously abysmal sense of direction or because they simply didn't care or because they were busy fighting some poor bastard. Whatever the reason was the majority of the other captains breathed a sigh of relief. The presence of the 11th divisions' leading duo wasn't entirely desired at an occasion as apparently important as this.

The other missing presence on the other hand was greatly missed, even after five months. Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's death during the war with Sosuke Aizen and his arrancar army had left a hole in the Gotei 13 that had yet to be filled. His lieutenant did an admirable job of managing the 1st division, but the position of captain-commander needed to be filled. The remaining nine captains were in deep discussion about who could possibly take the position. At the current time they were stuck in circular arguments that constantly lead nowhere. So the distraction of mysterious visitors was very welcome. At least for now.

"There you are." Soifon said as she noticed the new arrivals. She off-handedly pushed her overweight lieutenant into a wall and stepped aside to allow them a view of their visitors.

There were six of them, all dressed alike. They had flowing, open, black cloaks with hoods covering their heads and sleeves reaching to their wrists. Beneath the coats they wore black, double breasted suits with straight white shirts, black ties and slick black shoes. They all wore white gloves with mostly different numbers and ornaments emblazoned on the backs of them. Each of them had a personalized scythe or sickle strapped to either their back or waist. Two of them wore simple but noticeable emerald pearl cufflinks with a gold rim.

When Shunsui, Juushiro, Toushiro and Rangiku had gotten close enough Byakuya addressed the strangers. "Everybody relevant has arrived. You may continue with your introduction now."

One of the cufflink wearing ones nodded curtly to the 6th division's captain and stepped forward while folding his hood back, revealing a man with deep brown eyes and dark grey hair that reached right below his shoulders smiling pleasantly to the assembled shinigami. A long, plain looking scythe with a straight handle was loosely strapped on to his back.

"Greetings everybody. My name is Richard Hawkins and I, like my companions here, am a grim reaper." The lieutenants present all gasped as their eyes widened slightly. The captains on the other hand were less impressed.

"I figured as much." Soi Fon said, not bothering with to put up a polite front. "Why are you here then? This isn't your jurisdiction."

Richard didn't seem bothered by it. "That is true; or rather it would be true under normal circumstances. The reasons for us being here are very much not what one would consider normal." Despite his friendly voice the gathered shinigami felt either worried or annoyed at what he was implying.

Having waited a moment for questions Richard continued. "You see, we are here on the orders of an authority higher up than the central 46 because there have been… concerns with recent events that have taken place in your designated part of the world."

It's a testament of his fortitude that Richard didn't flinch in the slightest when several of the shinigami captains narrowed their eyes threateningly. Behind the calm exterior however the tangible tension was beginning to worry him.

Another one of the grim reapers stepped up and pulled back their hood revealing a woman with dark eyes, olive-green complexion and flowing dark hair. "I am Evadne Erasmus. I lead this investigation. I suggest we take this to a formal location." The way she spoke was stiff and it became apparent that she wasn't entirely used to speaking japanese.

"That sounds like a fine idea Erasmus-san." Unohana said with her usual calm voice. "Some order will most likely let things run more smoothly than if we continue them out here. Please follow me."

In an orderly but not entirely pleasant manner the shinigami captains and the six grim reapers headed towards the main assembly hall, leaving the lieutenants behind with the order to keep things as quiet as possible until everything had been explained.

Naturally the lieutenants started gossiping.

"It's a hostile take over." Iba said, completely serious.

"Are you kidding? It's obviously some elaborate joke." Omaeda suggested, having recovered from his run in with the wall.

"I don't think so. They seemed completely serious." Kira muttered out loud.

"The only thing I care about is that that Richard guy is a total dish." Rangiku declared a bit too loudly.

"Shiro-kun can't hear you right now Rangiku-san." Momo deadpanned.

"If they are what they claim to be I wonder if it'll affect those guys." Renji muttered, earning looks from his comrades. "You know, Ichigo and the others."

* * *

"Achoo." Right after sneezing Ichigo was about to ask out loud if anybody was talking about him. Unfortunately that action distracted him from properly blocking an attack that sent him crashing into the ground below.

"Quit daydreaming dumbass!" Sarugaki Hiyori shouted in her usual charming voice that seemed to mix gleeful mockery with nagging anger. "Or do you actually want me to kick your ass more than usual?"

The substitue shinigami didn't even bother dusting himself off before flying towards his opponent. "As if you could, damn shorty!"

The two vizards swung both swung their blades at each other with the power of childish fury behind them.

"Who are you calling short, strawberry head!"

Large sparks flew as their cleaver like zanpakutos clashed several times over.

"You should watch it with the name calling monkey-girl!" Ichigo retorted as they ceaselessly assaulted each other.

"THAT'S IT!" Hiyori roared as her hollow masked materialized over her face.

"Bring it!" Ichigo yelled and pulled on his own mask out of thin air.

A large shockwave washed over the vizard's training area as the two hot-heads smashed into each other. It was powerful enough that Hirako Shinji, leader of the vizards, had to hold on to his cap so that it didn't blow away.

"Those two seem to be enjoying themselves." Rose said as he looked up from reading his manga while seated on a rock. "However, we might consider teaching them restraint. I don't think that these shockwaves are good for our manga collection."

"Then why do you guys keep bringing them down here then?" Shinji sighed.

"We've got to do something while waiting for our turn." Love answered matter of factly before chuckling at the volume he was reading.

Another shockwave drew their attention and Shinji took a look at a pocket watch in his hand. "Speaking of which. Hiyori's been at it for almost five minutes now. It's good to know that there's still room for us to grow."

"_Ichigo on the other hand." _He thought grimly as he noticed small parts of his fellow vizard's mask crumbling. "_Something's wrong with him but he hasn't told us yet. Stupid of him. But I should probably allow him to bring it up in his own time._"

He tossed the watch to a young, glasses-wearing woman dressed in a sailor outfit who was also reading a manga. She casually caught the watch with one hand.

"Make sure to keep the time on her, Lisa. I'll go check up on our other guest." Lisa grunted in understanding, being mostly engrossed in her shounen-ai manga, as Shinji blurred away.

He appeared in another part of the training area, next to the large form of Hacchigan and the frowning Kensei Mugurama. "How is he doing?" Shinji asked the two as he looked at the same scene they'd been observing for 20 minutes now.

Sado Yasutora was panting heavily. Bruises adorned his entire body, his clothes were torn and a small trickle of blood had seeped out of his mouth. His two arms were in their transformed states and his tightened fists crackled with spiritual energy.

A few meters in front of him Mashiro Kuna stood with her hands on her hips and her hornet like mask covering her face. The only sign that she'd been fighting was the dirt on her fullbody suit and how ruffled her green hair was.

"Come on, come on! I can still keep this up all day!" She enthusiastically yelled at her tired opponent.

Sado took a deep breath and charged his opponent with a guttural scream.

"Yeay! Here we go again!" Mashiro celebrated and rushed forward as well.

Sado pulled back his left arm, which was covered in a white skin-like armor with red stripes, and launched a powerful punch at Mashiro who countered by jumping into a high-speed flying kick.

"La Muerte!"

"Mashiro Super Kick!"

The attacks were slammed against each other and the resulting explosion kicked up a large dust-cloud.

"He's surviving." Kensei grunted in response to Shinji's question.

"Mashiro Mega Punch!" Sado came flying out of the cloud and smashed through a big rock.

"Barely." Kensei added upon seeing the development.

"Although it isn't completely obvious, Sado-kun IS making progress." Hacchi quickly assured Shinji. "We just might have to go back to more old-fashioned methods of training him."

"Mashiro will be disappointed." Kensei muttered, imagining the hissy fit his former lieutenant would throw upon losing her new playmate.

"I can live with that." Shinji deadpanned while Sado was stumbling to get back up. "Get down there and tell him to take a break. I don't think that Ichigo would like it if we broke his best friend."

Kensei jumped down as a meddler allowing Shinji to cast a more serious look on his large companion. "Any clues to what he is?"

Hacchi shook his head. "Besides the fact that his powers are hollow based there isn't anything else I could tell you. If we keep training him the origin might become more apparent, but right now there is nothing concrete."

Shinji nodded, looked down on the muscular boy as his arms returned to normal and he sat down to rest. Normally the failure to gather any information wouldn't faze the vizard leader in the slightest. But considering that the now destroyed hogykou was involved in the creation of Sado's powers Shinji had reason to be concerned for the young man.

"_But it's not just that._" Shinji thought and scratched his head. "_There's something in the air._" He sighed and turned to rejoin Ichigo's group. "_I have a feeling things will get a lot more troublesome again._"

* * *

"Well now. This is better, more controlled you know." Richard said with a smile to the assembled spirits. The shinigami where standing with their backs to the deceased captain-commander's chair and the grim reapers in front of them, now with their hoods off.

"Since we're all busy people and most of you probably want us out of here sooner rather than later I'll just get to the point." He took a deep breath while ignoring that some of the more serious individuals present stared sternly at his levity.

"About three months ago our captain-commander received the most unusual order of her entire existence. She was to select a group of her sub-ordinates that would travel to the eastern quarter of Soul Society and investigate the shinigami in charge of the area."

"And who issued this order?" Toushiro interrupted. It was one of many questions that Richard had prepared himself for, so he didn't miss a beat.

"It was from the Spirit King himself." Richard answered briefly and waited for the next obvious question.

It came from Juushiro, whose tone remained polite if doubtful. "How can you be sure of that?"

"Because, we spent two of those three months investigating the origin of the letter, the last one was focused on preparing this whole thing." Richard answered with an odd mix of seriousness and cheerfulness. "Our captain-commander and the rest of us all felt rather dubious towards the letter, as I'm certain you would too if our positions were reversed. A direct order from the Spirit King! And such an unheard of and audacious order at that. To cross the boarder and act as investigators. I've never even imagined having to do anything like that. So naturally we started by thoroughly examining the letter."

"And how did it check out?" Komamura asked.

"It was the real deal." Richard said with an incredulous smile, as if he still had trouble believing it. "The spirit particles that emanated from it, the way it was sealed, we even interrogated the messenger and had our Central 46 check it out. And that's just tip of a rather tedious and repetitious iceberg. I am 100% certain that the orders came from the Spirit King himself. But if you don't believe me we are willing to let you examine the letter as well. We'll probably be finished with our business before you get a satisfactory answer."

"And what exactly is that business?" Soi Fon asked harshly indicating a silent demand.

Richard coughed a little, took another deep breath and then spoke with as much of a straight face as he could muster. "We are to investigate whether the eastern court-guard squad is still able to carry out their functions properly and if there are any elements within the organization that should be removed."

A tense silence spread throughout the room as the shinigami processed the intent of the grim reapers. Shunsui decided to be the first one to break the silence with a simple enough question. "What exactly has brought on the need for this investigation?"

"Well," Richard reached into a pocket and pulled out a scroll which he unfurled. "Your Central 46 is dead and has yet to be replaced. The same applies to your captain-commander. Three captains turned out to be traitors and it was only with the help from a large number of outsiders that said traitors were eventually defeated. Before that, a small group of assorted individuals successfully broke into your base and caused mayhem for several days before the matter resolved itself." He rolled up the scroll again. "There's more, but in short, there are concerns about your efficiency and they are strong enough for the Spirit King himself to take this much action. We are to conduct interviews with those involved and go through the records to assess the quality of your performance."

The response among the shinigami captains varied from slight nods to teeth grinding and general stoicness. It was true that things had been chaotic for some time now, but it's not enjoyable to have all of the faults and failings that they've had to endure listed straight to them.

Richard proceeded with the next step as nobody moved to protest against what he'd just said.

"Now then, I do believe that introductions are in order. You've already met me and captain Erasmus here." He gestured towards his comrade who nodded curtly. "She is in charge of making sure the whole thing runs smoothly and will be going through your records while I conduct the interviews. This next fellow here is Nicodéme Lumiére." A grim reaper with thin rim horned glasses and black hair tied into a long, thick pony tail nodded to the shinigami. Tied to his belt was a small battle-scythe.

"Because of his unmatched administrative skills he will acting as both mine and captain Erasmus' assistant, coordinating our findings." Richard added and continued.

"Next we have our cute little medic, Lucy Fairchild." A short girl with dark green hair bowed deeply while smiling nervously. "A pleasure meet you." She muttered out. Unohana smiled warmly at the girl while noticing that the sickle hanging from her belt was much smaller than the rests'.

"And this," Richard placed a hand on the head of shortest grim reaper present. A girl of waist height with a large mop of messy, bright red hair held back with a purple headband, chocolate brown eyes and a confident look on her face smirked at the captains. A war-scythe that seemed a bit too long for the girl was strapped horizontally on her back. "Is my own lieutenant and self-proclaimed body guard, Beileag Greer."

Beileag casually slapped away Richard's hand and then made a proud proclamation. "I would cop your oyster-shells but with a fly-swatter."

Of the shinigami only Byakuya managed to avoid widening his eyes at the bizarre sentence. Richard intercepted any questions with an off-hand comment. "She's an idiot who doesn't know Japanese. Just ignore her."

Acting as though the interlude hadn't occurred Richard continued to introduce the final member of the investigation squad. A man with blood red hair and a stern expression nodded briefly to the shinigami.

"Last, but certainly not least is lieutenant Michael Graystone, who will become a captain once this mission is over. He will be in-charge of handling the affairs in the human world."

"What affairs would that be?" Komamura asked with a voice that was powerful and concerned at the same time.

"Huh, didn't I tell you that?" Richard turned to Evadne who shook her head while sternly glaring at him. "Oh my. Guess I didn't then. Well, as we've come to understand there were a fairly large number of participants in your dealings with Aizen that come from the human world. In particular this human called Kurosaki Ichigo."

Sensing that the level of tension in the room was rapidly increasing Richard quickly tried to defend their decision. "I promise, lieutenant Graystone is only meant to interview those that live in the human world and report his findings back to us. If no crime has been committed then we won't have to do anything."

"Sounds fair enough." Shunsui said with a smile, deciding to give the grim reapers the benefit of a doubt. "I, and everyone here, can assure you that Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends are on our side. But it's understandable that you would like to get their side of the story as well."

"Great, then you'll cooperate with us?" Richard asked hopefully.

The captains responded affirmatively, some more begrudgingly so than others. But all in all it seemed to have worked out for the better, easing Richard's worries.

"Right then. We will need today to set things up here and tomorrow we will get this thing started so that we can get this whole mess out of the way. Also, would you please make sure to gather any shinigami that were deeply involved in these incidents so that we might interview them?" An affirmative muttering could be heard from the captains.

Unohana volunteered to help get the Grim Reapers set up while the other captains informed the squads. Shunsui and Juushiro moved a little slower than the rest, to discuss their guests.

"So what do you think?" Shunsui asked quietly.

"They seem genuine enough and from the way that Hawkins fellow acted I'm guessing that they don't want to stay here for too long. Hopefully this'll be over quickly. But I am worried about Ichigo-kun and his friends. Especially with the incident that occurred after the battle against Aizen, you know."

Shunsui waved away his friend's concerns. "Those kids can take care of themselves well enough. We should focus on ourselves at the moment."

"In that case I actually do need to concern myself with them a bit longer. I need to summon Rukia back here before I forget it." Juushiro added as an explanation to Shunsui's confused expression. The laid back man nodded and the two parted ways.

* * *

Night had reached Karakura town and a stiff figure was moving through the city's suburbs. Kurosaki Ichigo grumbled incoherently while massaging his neck. "Damn, masked bastards. Why can't they just go home already?" He would've complained some more but saw that Rukia was standing outside the Kurosaki clinic. Leaning with her back against the gate and looking at the stars.

"Hey, what are you doing outside?"

When Rukia didn't answer Ichigo bonked her lightly on the head with his fist.

"Why the hell did you do that for?" Rukia screamed indignantly.

"You should answer when people address you." Ichigo deadpanned.

Rukia glared at him for a moment before she resumed her previous position with a resigned expression. "I was distracted."

"By what?" Ichigo asked, his interest peaked.

"I've had this strange feeling of being watched all day. But there's not been anybody following me, at least not that I noticed." The shinigami's eyes narrowed as if she tried to dare any potential stalkers to reveal themselves.

"Do you think it's serious or are you just growing paranoid?" The remark was met with a painful jab to Ichigo's ribs.

"I am not paranoid. Probably just restless, five months of nothing but regular hollows seems a bit unreal after all." She said as she felt herself mellow down, believing her own explanation. "Let's go in. Yuzu's probably finished dinner by now."

As the two entered the Kurosaki residence, discussing whether the vizards were bastards or not, the regular messaging system of Soul Society appeared.

A hell butterfly is a beautiful thing.

It might not be as colourful as the original thing but there is an undeniable elegance and grace to it as it fluttered through the air to carry out its mission.

A hell butterfly is a beautiful thing. It is unfortunately also a very fragile thing. Evidenced by how easy the one outside the Kurosaki household is instantly destroyed when attacked by a small, shadow covered creature. The small amount of reiatsu that made up the butterfly is dispersed and absorbed by its attacker before it crawls back into the shadows.

The message the hell butterfly carried with it is left unheard.

* * *

**I am absolutely certain that speaking japanese wrong would not result in such bizzare sentences. It's just for some cheap laughs that I added that joke. So now you know.**

**Please review and I'll be back with the next update.**


	3. Initial meetings

**Sorry about the delay, my social life got surprisingly active over the last few weeks and the chapter itself became longer than expected. I also took som extra time to look for miss-spellings and other such stuff, hopefully I got all of them. Here it is now, I hope you'll enjoy it.**

* * *

The drop of blood made an impossibly loud noise as it splashed onto the floor.

He grabbed his now deceased opponent's head and pulled his sword out of her chest before carelessly discarding her as if she was trash.

Slowly he turned around, surveying the battlefield and remaining unbothered by the stench of death that reeked over it.

The quincy was lying facedown on the ground, blood pouring out of his chest wound.

The girl's head, stuck in a terrified expression, rocked gently next to her limp body.

The large boy's broken body was strewn against a tree, his arms painfully twisted out of their sockets.

Similarly grim figures were scattered all around him along with a collection of broken swords and pools of blood.

It all meant nothing to him. They had tried to stop him and failed. He didn't need them anymore. An entire city stood before him as he remembered something about a plan. A plan that would give him the chance to fight and kill stronger opponents. All he needed to do was to destroy the city.

With an earth-shaking roar Kurosaki Ichigo left the remains of his former friends behind and assaulted Karakura town.

* * *

With a cry of terror Ichigo woke up and quickly pulled himself into a sitting position. Sweat was dripping down his entire body and he was trembling. The young man took a quick look at his surroundings. He was in his room, sitting in his bed and the sun was rising up outside.

"Good, good." He muttered as he got out of bed. "I'm fine. Everything's fine. Everyone's fine."

For the last couple of weeks he'd been having nightmares. Visions of him going insane and murdering his friends and family for no other reason than to spill their blood. Naturally it was a horrible experience that left him in shivers and cold sweats. But there was still something even worse about them.

The substitute shinigami knew that they weren't just images created by his subconscious thoughts while he slept. He knew this because during the dreams he could feel something clawing and scratching at the back of his head. It didn't say anything, it just wanted out. Ichigo's inner hollow wanted out.

So far it hadn't interfered with Ichigo in a way that caused problems of any kind. It was whenever Ichigo was asleep the hollow started acting up. So far the strawberry haired young man hadn't informed anybody about this new development in his relationship with the hollow, mostly because it scared him.

He wasn't scared of the power he received from the hollow. Ichigo had conquered those apprehensive emotions during the final battle with Aizen. The thing he feared was meeting the hollow itself. He had no idea how it had changed since the last time they met and he wasn't very eager to find out about it either. But the gruesome images were becoming too horrifying to not deal with anymore.

He sighed while pulling a shirt over his head. "_I need to talk to someone. Probably Urahara or Shin…_" His train of thought was interrupted as he opened his bedroom door and he was met with the all too familiar feeling of his father's feet smashing into his face.

"Ichigo, you damn son of mine! I didn't raise you to be this kind of lazy ass punk!" Isshin shouted in a way that made it difficult to decipher whether he was serious or not.

Ichigo leapt back onto his feet and matched his father's insane glare. "The hell are you talking about you old bastard!"

"Not only are you ten minutes late for breakfast, you couldn't even block such a simple attack!"

"You want simple attack? I'll show you a simple attack!"

"Bring it!"

The two instantly launched a punch each that would easily render a normal man unconscious for the better part of a day. The Kurosaki men however just gritted their teeth and stood their ground as their arms crossed and their fists slammed into each others' faces.

For a moment they stood there in silence, shaking lightly because of the punches. Then Isshin broke the silence.

"My arm is extended 2 centimetres further than yours. I win." The comment was swiftly met with a sharp kick to his crotch.

"I'll tell Yuzu that you'll be down in a minute." Ichigo deadpanned to his downed father as he walked out of his bedroom, most of his worries about the hollow pushed back for the moment.

* * *

She took a deep breath, her fifth one in ten minutes. She was ready for this. If she wasn't ready that would mean that the preparations she'd gone through over the last three weeks would be completely wasted and that she was a wimpy little coward. And she was no such thing. With steely determination in her eyes a sharp fist was raised to knock on the door in front of her thus making her presence known.

Then she took a sixth deep breath.

"Lucy Fairchild, you are a coward." The green haired grim reaper muttered to herself. She had been sent to do some special investigating while her comrades and superiors were busy with their own tasks. Unfortunately the rumours she had heard about this particular division's captain were starting to wear down her resolve.

Supposedly the captain was a fearsome warrior whose blade was so sharp that it could cut an opponent to ribbons with but a slight touch. Her reiatsu was supposed to be so powerful that it would make you choke just by being near her. A glare from this menacing woman had turned the mightiest of warrior into quivering slivers of what they once was. Worst of all, Lucy had heard that she didn't take too kindly to strangers.

No, that wasn't the worst thing in Lucy's mind. "_She noticed me._" The young medic thought dreadfully as she started shivering. "_She knows who I am. If she thinks that I meddle too much, I'm screwed. Why did I sign up for this?_"

"Hello." A pleasant voice said from behind her back.

"YIAAHHH!" Lucy jumped high in the air, crashed to the ground and turned around, coming face to face with the object of her dread. Unohana Retsu.

"Good morning Fairchild-san. How are you?" The smiling captain didn't remark on the fact that Lucy was pushing herself up against the 4th division's door as tightly as possible in an attempt to widen the distance between them.

"I've here to check out the medical division." Lucy spat out a little too quickly.

"Of course," Retsu nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you. I was just…"

"That's ok!" Lucy screamed out, earning a raised eyebrow from the captain.

"You seem to be a bit apprehensive." Retsu took the grim reaper's light shaking as an affirmative. "Not to worry. I know the perfect remedy. Follow me." Retsu motioned for Lucy to follow her. Being too afraid to do anything else, Lucy complied

"I see that you're not wearing your cloak today." Retsu said in an attempt to start small-talk as the two walked through the 4th division barracks.

"It's mainly for decorative and travelling purposes. No good for investigative work." Lucy answered cautiously. She was beginning to wonder if the rumours surrounding Unohana Retsu might be a bit exaggerated.

"I see. How interesting." Retsu said with a genuine voice right before finding what she was looking for. "Ah there he is. 7th seat Yamada." Lucy shifted her gaze from the confusing captain to the person she was calling out to.

Meeting her eyes was a black haired young man half a head shorter than her. He was in the process of sweeping the floors and seemed a bit stunned that someone was addressing him. "Yes captain Unohana." His voice was surprisingly level, which contrasted his otherwise scrawny appearance.

"This young lady is the medical officer of the grim reapers that I told you all about yesterday. I would like for you to show her around our division and answer any questions that she might have." She turned to Lucy. "I hope that 7th seat Yamada will have you feeling a bit more relaxed. If you have any questions that he is unable to answer you can come to me after he's done showing you around. Is that ok?"

"Eh… yes." Lucy answered the friendly face with a stiff voice.

"Good. Again, welcome to Soul Society." Retsu said kindly and walked away to her office.

Lucy blinked as she stared after the captain. "Not like rumours say." She said out loud.

"Yeah, a lot of people get the wrong idea about captain Unohana." Hanatarou spoke up from Lucy's right side prompting the grim reaper to look over her allotted guide. She thought that he looked largely miserable. Not in the way that he was full of angst or anything like that. It just seemed like he would be exceedingly easy to bully. Luckily Lucy was too much of a wimp to try that. But she was tempted.

Deciding to be friendly Lucy held out her hand. "Lucy Fairchild, 4th seat." She presented a bit stiffly.

Hanatarou shook hands with Lucy, who noted that he had rather dainty hands, even for a guy his size. "Yamada Hanatarou, 7th seat." He said with a sheepish smile. "It's a very easy name to remember." Lucy blinked, thinking that it was too long.

"So what do you want to see first?" Hanatarou asked cautiously.

"Ehm…" Lucy blanked. "_Crap, what was it I was supposed to look for now again?_" She ransacked her mind for the questions she had prepared and the minute details that she was going to take into account. Sadly it had all vanished and Lucy broke out into a cold sweat. Then she felt a small hand on her forehead. Her shaky eyes refocused on the shinigami in front of her.

When Hanatarou saw that she was staring at him he quickly backed away. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. You looked a bit out of it and I thought I should check if you had a fever. I didn't mean to invade your personal space. Sorry." He hastily explained.

For some inexplicable reason Lucy found herself smirking. The person in front of her was the least intimidating individual she'd ever met. He was so unintimidating that she felt herself relax.

One final deep breath later Lucy had regained her composure. "First show the medicine equipment." She commanded with an assured but light-hearted tone.

"Ok, sure. It's right this way." Hanatarou gestured, falling into obedience a bit too easy in Lucy's opinion.

"_No matter. He'll make things easier I'm sure._" She thought to herself as the two walked through the barracks, never noticing a smiling Retsu observing them from behind a corner before going about her business.

* * *

"_How much longer now?_" The red haired grim reaper known as Michael Graystone growled in his head while glaring at the building where a certain substitute shinigami was attending school. Not knowing when the school day would end he had arrived a bit early.

Four hours early to be specific. And with orders to not interfere Kurosaki Ichigo's human life Michael couldn't do anything but wait. Of course, he could have chosen a better place to do so in instead of floating right above the schoolyard entrance.

"_At least people can't see me. If I'd been bothered by anyone I might have…_"

"Excuse me. Mr. Fancy Looking Shinigami." Michael looked down with a dumbfounded face. Two young men, a lanky one with brown hair and an overly tidy looking one with blue hair, were directly addressing him.

"Kuchiki-san told us to inform you that she and Ichigo will be out soon. They and all of the others just got called up by our teacher. Something about their grades and attendance and other not really important stuff." Still not quite believing the informality with which he was being addressed Michael only nodded.

The teen seemed to take that as an invitation to prattle on. "Please don't keep them too busy. I know how long these things usually take and I don't want them occupied when it's time for the Fierce Tiger Blossoms' live concert, that's in two months time by the way so you have your time limit. I spent a lot of money on those tickets and I am not going to have any of these spirit business things mess up my planning for the super special awesome time that me and my URRRKK."

A lazy backhead-slap from the blue haired teen stopped the brown haired one's prattling. "Don't mind Keigo. He just talks too much about unimportant stuff. Ichigo will be out soon." He said with a smile as the one called Keigo suddenly shoot up in front of him.

"Mizuiro! How can you be so cruel towards your friend!" Keigo blubbered loudly straight up in Mizuiro's face. He was completely dismissed.

"Come on Asano-san. You've got to get home and make sure you won't fail the exam next week." Mizuiro said with a bright smile. The comment got Keigo rushing off screaming. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME!"

Mizuiro chuckled, nodded to the grim reaper and calmly followed his friend.

The surrounding world suddenly became less of a concern as Michael tried to comprehend what had just happened. It wasn't until he was directly, and rather rudely, addressed that the grim reaper regained his senses.

"Hey, you floating bastard!" Micheal turned in the direction of the voice and instantly his visage hardened. "_The anomaly._" He resisted the urge to growl and fell out of the air, landing on his feet.

Michael observed the six teens walking up to him and connected names with pictures he had seen from files. There was only one that he didn't recognise and one that shouldn't be there. He didn't really enjoy surprises like that. But it wasn't something that he could consider for long before the anomaly got up in his face.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? You know, besides getting me in trouble with my teacher."

"That was your own fault Ichigo." Rukia pointed out.

"I was reprimanded because she caught me from almost going out to meet this guy. If he hadn't shown up I wouldn't have been chewed out like that." Ichigo protested.

"Actually it was your actions that got you into trouble. If you had shown the same patience as our visitor here there wouldn't have been any problem." Uryu remarked.

"Misato-sensei seemed a bit more strict than usual. I hope that nothing's wrong with her." Tatsuki thought out loud.

"Maybe invisible rainbow ghosts have invaded her dreams, causing her stress-levels to rise in order to steal all of her unhappy thoughts." Orihime pondered seriously.

"We're just too far behind in class." Sado explained.

"Yeah. It's really great that we started this rotating patrol thing. Otherwise I'd never be able to catch up with the school stuff." Ichigo said to his friends.

"About that," Uryu said. "During your last few patrols, have any of you felt…"

"AHEM!" The group all turned around to face Michael's direction again. The grim reaper was looking very perturbed.

"Oh right, you're here. Sorry." Ichigo said sheepishly. "Who are you again?"

The noise of grinding teeth loudly escaped Micheal's mouth. "You can all see me?" A collective nod. "Then follow me." He said almost begrudgingly and turned around to find a location that he wasn't bored to death with.

Ten minutes later the group was standing under a tree in a children's park. Michael decided that it was good enough.

"Now then," He began while semi-glaring at the assorted individual before him. "My name is Michael Graystone and I am a grim reaper." He paused to observe their reactions. Except for one they all seemed annoyingly oblivious about what he was talking about.

"What's a grim reaper?" Tatsuki asked politely.

Before Michael had a chance to answer Rukia spoke up. "The Soul Society you all are used to is a part of a larger organisation. More specifically it is the eastern branch of said organisation. Grim reapers are more or less the western counterparts to shinigami."

"You've drawn another picture haven't you?" Ichigo deadpanned without looking at her. In response Rukia held up her sketchbook which had a questionable drawing of Asia and Europe with a chappy style shinigami and grim reaper on their respective continents. "Crap as usual." Ichigo muttered and got slapped in the head with the sketchbook.

"Anyway," Rukia continued. "I always thought that neither group would ever cross the boundaries set up by the spirit king. Why are you here Graystone-san?" Rukia asked and the group focused on the newcomer who met them with a frustrated glare.

"Oh, so I'm allowed to talk now?" Michael spat out, making Rukia stepped back with an embarrassed expression as she realised she'd stepped on a few toes.

Michael took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Excuse me about that. Allow me to inform you about why I'm here." And so Michael recounted the same answer that Richard had told to the shinigami captains the previous day, answering similar questions that had been asked to his superior.

"Because of your deep involvement with the whole incident that led to the request of this investigation it has been decided that I am to question all of you in regards to what happened. I hope that all of you will choose to cooperate." Michael finished with a stern tone.

"And if we don't agree to that?" Uryu questioned, locking eyes with the grim reaper as the tension increased dramatically. Luckily Rukia jumped in between the two.

"Now, now there's no need for any of this." She said with a flustered face. "Of course we'll cooperate. When would you like to begin the interviews?" She asked in the way of a person trying to pacify a madman.

Michael didn't take his eyes off of the quincy. "I have a few more areas to inspect so I'll begin tomorrow." At this point he turned to Ichigo. "You're up first Kurosaki Ichigo. Meet me at the city's highest building at noon. You have no school tomorrow as I understand it."

"Yeah." The substitute shinigami confirmed. "Sure why not." Ichigo answered, noting that the grim reaper didn't have an all too kind look in his eyes. "Are we done with you for the day?"

"Not yet." Michael faced Rukia. "Every shinigami involved with the events that concerns this investigation were supposed to return to their division. Why are you still here Kuchiki Rukia?"

"I… I wasn't aware of this." Rukia answered with an unsure voice. "This is the first I heard of any of this. I promise."

Michael believed her rather quickly, reasoning that her reactions up to this point indicated that she was genuinely surprised by his very presence. "Very well. You are to stay in your current situation while I contact my superiors to see how we're to deal with this."

With that Michael turned away from the group. "During this time none of you are to leave this town without my permission. Doing so will result in incarceration for a time that will be determined at that point." He glanced back at them with eyes that seemed to glow with contempt. "Until next time." With that he blurred away.

The group decided to discuss things in greater detail after Ichigo's interview and return to their own business until then. As the group began to separate Orihime walked up to Ichigo and Rukia.

"Should we cancel tonight? I mean in case you want to prepare for the interview tomorrow Kurosaki-kun?" There was a slight hint of disappointment in Orihime's voice that Rukia and Tatsuki, who remained behind with her best friend, decided to not comment on. Ichigo on the other hand was, as always oblivious, to it.

Ichigo sighed and slung his school bag behind his back. "Inoue, if you don't show up tonight your apartment is going to invaded and just a bit thrashed as you're kidnapped and we'd have to stay up half the night to clean it. That's a bit more work that I want to have today. Please, just show up as usual." Orihime perked up and promised to do just that.

With that Orihime and Tatsuki went down a separate road to Ichigo and Rukia. None of them had noticed the black cat that had stalked them up to that point. It looked around its surroundings carefully before running away in the shadows of the street.

* * *

"Thank you for coming to this interview. Your cooperation is much appreciated." Richard said with a friendly smile as he shook hands with the 1st division lieutenant.

"Anything to aid your investigation and hurry up the process." The 1st division's lieutenant, Sasakibe Chojiro, said gracefully.

Richard had decided to go about the whole affair in a fairly simple manner by going through the divisions in numerical order, starting at number one, and interview the high ranking officers and any other individuals that had been deeply involved in the incidents that had led to their current situation.

The two met up in the deceased captain-commander's office. Out of respect neither had sat down at the desk. Instead the two of them had set up chairs opposite of each other in the middle of the room.

"Ok then," Richard clicked his pen as he held a paper notebook before him. "Let's begin at the start. Please describe, with your own words, the whole incident with the traitors."

"Very well." Chojiro said as he recounted the events from when Kuchiki Rukia had been apprehended to the defeat of Sosuke Aizen and his allies. He tried to keep it as factual and un-dramatized as possible. He also tried to be brief due to the length of the events. Richard was attentive enough to ask for details when he felt they were required. Eventually Chojiro's narration ended allowing Richard to go on with follow up questions.

"Now then, you've been in charge of the 1st division ever since your captain-commander perished. Tell me how you're holding your division together." Richard said with a pleasant voice.

Chojiro took a moment to choose the right words. "As you can imagine it was a severe blow when the captain-commander died. As I saw it the division needed a firm hand to lead them straight even in this tragedy. Luckily most of my subordinates already turned to me as I was the second-in-command, all I needed to do was to act as strong as ever in spite of my own grief."

"And you have taken the captain-commander's duties onto your own?" Richard asked.

"Only those that apply to my own division. I am obviously not qualified to act as even the temporary leader of the Gotei 13." Chojiro humbly answered.

"Of course," Richard agreed off-handily. "So that's why you didn't appear when I explained the mission to the captains then?" Chojiro nodded affirmatively. "Ok then lieutenant Sasakibe, that about wraps it up. I just want you to clarify one thing for me."

"Yes." Chojiro answered simply.

"You have given me a fine summary of the overall events regarding Sosuke Aizen and his accomplices. But you have been so modest as to refrain from mentioning your own actions. In short, what exactly did you do during these events?"

The shinigami swallowed a bit too loudly. This had been the part that he was a little embarrassed about. But the shinigami hoped that the grim reaper would see positively on his actions. "I stood by the captain-commanders' side at all times, ready to act on his command. At the time of Kuchiki Rukia's execution I and two others were ordered to attack Kurosaki Ichigo. I am saddened to say that he bested all three of us with little effort."

The noise of a pen jotting down notes that he could not see was becoming all too loud.

"Then during the battle above Karakura town I was assigned to make sure that no one entered the barrier that had been set up around the battle field. Sadly I failed and let the vizard through. Though, they became invaluable allies in the battle against both the espada and Aizen himself."

"And then you, along with most of the others, were defeated by Aizen Sosuke." Richard added without looking.

"Yes." The lieutenant tried to not sound too dejected.

Richard finished his last scribble and stood up, a friendly smile still visible on his face. "Right then, thanks for your time. It has been enlightening. I must now be off to interview the 2nd division. If you come up with anything else that you think is of importance feel free to contact me at any point." He held out a hand as Chojiro was about to stand up. "Don't worry about it. I can find my own way out."

With that the grim reaper walked out of the office, leaving Chojiro to wonder why it felt like he had done himself and the Gotei 13 an injustice.

* * *

"Hurry up Ichigo or you'll be late!" Kurosaki Isshin admonished as he ran past the bathroom door, carrying six sets of plates and glasses.

"How can I be late! I'm on the toilette and dinner is in our house!" Ichigo screamed in response.

"Ewww! I don't want to know what onii-chan is doing in the bathroom!" Yuzu screamed while jogging past with a steaming bowl of unknown contents in her hands.

"I wasn't talking to you Yuzu!" Ichigo screamed back.

"Shouldn't you be more focused on getting ready than shouting at us?" Karin deadpanned while walking past the bathroom, knives, forks and spoons in her hands.

"Shut up! You're the ones talking to me!" Ichigo shouted as a flushing noise indicated that he was done with his business.

"Ichigo, stop bothering your sisters!" Isshin loudly ordered while running back the way he came.

"After all the things we do for onii-chan." Yuzu whined while following her father. Karin grunted in agreement. Seconds later the bathroom door slammed open.

"Will you guys get off my back! What's with all of you tonight!" Ichigo screamed at his father and sisters right as they were coming down the hallway again. Isshin carried a fancy black and red tablecloth, Yuzu a large plate filled to the brim with grilled vegetables placed in a decorative fashion and Karin a tiny bowl of steaming pork. They were all staring at him with semi-disgusted faces and seemed to have etched their backs to the wall.

"What now?" Ichigo growled.

"Did you wash your hands before coming out?" Isshin asked darkly "We will not allow you to sully this food with dirty hands just because you forgot such a simple custom."

Ichigo was about to leap at his father when Rukia's voice came from the stairs. "Is Ichigo done yet? If he is tell him to hurry back to his room. He hasn't gotten properly dressed yet!" At this point Ichigo's family seemed to take a closer look at the young man. It was here that they realised that he was still in his school uniform. This realization seemed to strike horror in them. At least that was the case for Isshin and Yuzu, Karin just sort of rolled her eyes in disappointment.

Isshin decided to take charge. "Ichigo, you better damn well wash you hands, quickly but thoroughly, and then get dressed before…" The doorbell ringing stopped Isshin in his tracks and everything went quiet. For a moment.

"Ahh! She's here! She's here!" Isshin screeched.

Yuzu had a similar reaction. "No no no no no no no. We're not done yet."

Karin just sighed as Rukia's voice was heard. "She's here already? Get your ass up here now Ichigo." Before the young man could react, his father, after forcing the tablecloth into Karin's arms, shoved Ichigo forcefully back into the bathroom.

"He'll be up soon Rukia! Just be prepared! Yuzu, hand the vegetables over to Karin and then greet our guest! I'll deal with your lazy ass brother!" With that he closed the door and the sounds of a panicked battle could be heard from behind it.

The daughters followed their father's orders, Karin begrudgingly so as it was a little tricky for her to carry the cloth and food at the same time. Meanwhile Yuzu hurried over to the front door. She paused, took a deep breath and dusted off the apron that she was wearing. She waited a few seconds as her father ran past, dragging Ichigo behind him, and up the stairs. Then, with a bright smile she opened the door to welcome an equally smiling Inoue Orihime.

"Good evening Yuzu-chan." Orihime greeted with a small wave. She was wearing a white blouse with short sleeves, a loose-fitting pink cotton skirt, light yellow knee-high socks and a black plastic headband holding back her hair. Under her right arm she was holding a medium sized container.

"Good evening to you too Orihime-chan, and welcome once again." Yuzu eyed the container under Orihime's arm with hungry eyes as he let the older girl in. "Is that..?"

"Mhm." Orhime answered quickly, having anticipated the question. "But no peeking. It's a special surprise treat tonight." She teased with a friendly smirk.

Perhaps an explanation is in order. Five months ago, after Aizen had been defeated, Orihime had appeared outside the Kurosakis' house with a special dessert she had made as a sign of gratitude to Ichigo. She had intended to just drop off the dessert and then be on her way but Yuzu, Isshin and Rukia had all insisted that she'd stay for dinner. Ichigo had agreed that it would be nice if she did so but he'd still been a little worried about how his family would react to Orihime's special brand of cooking. He feared that any unpleasant reaction might hurt his friend's feelings. Luckily that hadn't been the case at all.

Karin had been able to politely eat her first and only portion with a strained straight face with Rukia and Ichigo pulling of the same feat, much thanks to experience. Isshin and Yuzu on the other hand had loved it from the very first bite and eaten it all so fast that by the time of their third portion the rest were only halfway through with their first.

"Maybe a certain mind-set is required." Ichigo had theorized with Rukia after the meal was over.

After that it became a weekly tradition for Orihime to visit the Kurosaki house for dinner and one of her homemade deserts. Seeing as how they're not blind and stupid, Ichigo's family noticed the busty girl's feelings for the strawberry haired young man. And so they had been trying to secretly help the girl by doing things like seating the two teens together on one side of the table with their chairs being just a bit too close to each other to be considered normal. While their intentions may have been deemed unsubtle by most people Ichigo was unfortunately horribly dense in these matters and just found it all rather strange. Orihime however did notice what they were doing but was too shy to protest or bring it up. There was also the fact that she rather enjoyed bumping hands, arms, feet and legs with Ichigo a few too many times.

Rukia saw the whole thing as an opportunity to make a little extra cash. As an experiment she had written down how she'd seen the first dinner in the form of a short story and sent it into the Seiretei Communication magazine. It had become surprisingly popular, especially with the female readers, and now the stories were in high demand so she got paid more and more for each instalment.

Together the three Kurosakis and Rukia had decided that they would try to take their hinting to the next level by making Ichigo and Orihime look more attractive than usual. To do so they had convinced Orihime that she should get dressed up for the five month anniversary of their little tradition. As her ensemble indicated she did not disappoint, though Yuzu had hoped for a little more make-up. They didn't trust Ichigo to pull off the same fashion feat, hence the commotion surrounding it.

"Why hello there Orihime-chan." Isshin greeted from the top of the stairs. "My dear girl you certainly look lovely. Almost like…" Before he could finish the sentence Isshin found himself kicked in the rear and sent tumbling down the stairs until his face met the floor.

"Don't ever drag me around like that again!" Ichigo shouted as he walked down the stairs.

"Nii-chan! We have a guest." Yuzu harshly pointed out, gesturing at Orihime who was shamelessly staring at the object of her affection.

Isshin and Rukia had forced Ichigo into a pair of khaki pants, a dark purple single-breasted jacket and a white t-shirt that was, intentionally, form fitting so that one could clearly see his muscles. It was when she felt the drool building up in her mouth that Orihime regained her senses.

"Hello! Hi Kurosaki-kun." She yelped out while trying to suppress a blush. "You look… nice." She managed to get out.

"He does, doesn't he?" Rukia said as she walked past him. "It's of course all because of my excellent fashion sense." She said with a prideful smirk, refusing to reveal that she'd asked several other female shinigami for clothing tips. "But so do you Orihime. Very stylish. Don't you think so Ichigo?"

"Huh?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Yeah, son of mine." Isshin added, plopping up beside Ichigo. "Don't you agree that our guest looks great?"

"Ehm…" Ichigo was about to give a very uncommitted response but based on the auras emitting from his father, sister and friend he got the feeling that it wouldn't be enough. "Yeah, she looks great. Really good." Rukia, Isshin and Yuzu quietly kept their leaps of victory bottled up inside for a later time.

"Tha… thank you, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime muttered shyly.

"Heh, yeah well, we sort of have to look good I guess. I mean, five month anniversary and… wait a minute." Ichigo's eyes swept over the other individuals in the room. All of which were suspiciously enough dressed very plainly. "Why aren't you three in…"

"I've set the table, time for dinner. Hi Orihime." Karin said with a passing glance at the hall.

"Awesome, let's get to dinner. No time for valid questions." Isshin proclaimed as he pushed Ichigo and Orihime into their chairs, while sharing a glance with Yuzu to indicate that they had the same thought.

"_We are the greatest match-makers EVER._"

And so began another light-hearted evening at the Kurosaki family household. This for Ichigo meant that his mind was got to relax and not concern itself with matters like inner hollows and annoying grim reapers. Instead he got to concern himself with the strange feeling of his leg brushing up against his female friend's and the uncomfortable questions his family kept asking the two.

He honestly didn't know which of the two bothered him the most.

* * *

**There we go. I'd say that my intended main shipping for this fic is now incredibly obvious. I've also discovered that I like thinking up different outfits for Orihime to wear.**

**Please tell me what you think so far. Until next time.**


	4. Approaching darkness

**And I'm back, earlier this time. However, this is a shorter chapter. I'm going on vaccation but wanted to do a quick update before that. I'm rather happy with the results.**

**Also, I have noticed that a few people have put this on their favourite list. I appreciate that but could you please leave a review as well. It can be short or long, praising or critizing or just silly. Anything but flames would be appreciated. That's it for now. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

A deep, wheezing noise pierced the darkness.

Relaxation was indulged in for a few moments before plans activated. Awareness of the grim one's arrival had reached out into the army's muscle and it was coming to strategize. Excitement flowed to the teeth and mouth. The tediousness would be replaced with grand schemes of demise and treachery.

Stomping noises that echoed throughout the cave alerted him of his comrade's presence with ample time to prepare mentally. The now customary large silhouette with glowing eyes soon stood before him.

"You know that the reaper has arrived in the city." It was a statement, not a question, made with a bloodthirsty yet restrained voice.

"He is within my sights as we speak. The plan should proceed with rapidity." An ancient and dry voice said with dark glee and impatience.

No question was asked. "Our weakest will distract them. Don't miss the opportunity their sacrifice will provide." The giant loudly turned around and stomped towards the cave's exit.

"What of today's battle with the aberrations?" The old voice asked curiously.

The shadow answered without halting. "The forces have been divided in order for smaller and more concentrated attacks. I will not allow them the lavishness of a day's rest." With that he was gone.

Barbarous thoughts reached out to severed limbs which skittered and danced. On the horizon a new era would dawn. An era formed in accordance to his dreams of revenge and hatred.

* * *

No ordinary person could see him, spirit that he was, as he flew up the skyscraper. Ichigo could actually reach the top in a matter of seconds but had decided to take it slow and reflect over what he was about to do.

He hadn't really had time to think about it before but there was something he found unpleasant about the grim reaper he was to meet. There was nothing wrong or sinister about his reiatsu or anything like that. It was that he seemed to glare every time his eyes went in Ichigo's direction. Rukia had said that Ichigo was being ridiculous and should make sure to act his best during the interview and show that he was reliable enough to be a substitute shinigami. Ichigo promptly disagreed with the first part and was slowly forgetting the second.

The strawberry haired vizard's faced contorted into a scowl as he became all the more pissed trying to figure out why the grim reaper would bear any ill feelings against someone that he'd never met. "Gaahhh." Ichigo groaned. "I'll just ask him."

Seconds later Ichigo set down on the rooftop of Karakura town's tallest skyscraper. Michael stood at the center waiting for his interviewee, axe-scythe strapped to his back.

"That your zanpakuto?" Ichigo asked as he walked up to the red-head.

"Yes. You never know what might happen." He answered, anticipating Ichigo's next question. He took out a note-pad and pen. "Now just answer my questions would you." Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the order.

"How would you characterise your relationship to Soul Society and the Gotei 13?" The tone Michael used practically screamed that he found this all to be a bother.

"Aren't you supposed to ask about the incidents with Aizen?" Ichigo questioned.

"In due time. Just answer the question." Ichigo restrained himself from punching the grim reaper.

"I'm sort of a free-lance agent I guess." Ichigo began after thinking it over for a few minutes. "We're allies that share the same interests. But I'm not on their direct payroll or anything like that."

"I see." Michael said with a disinterested voice while jotting stuff down on the notepad. "Would you consider them your friends?"

Ichigo thought back to his various acquaintances among the shinigami and how he probably was friends with some of them even if not all would admit it, and vice versa. Then the image of Kenpachi came up in his head and he shuddered ever so slightly.

"Yeah," He answered eventually. "I'm friends with most of them, more or less." He muttered loudly.

"Are you close enough that you would back up any forbidden actions performed by the shinigami?" The question flowed out so naturally that Ichigo's mind had to do second take of what had been asked.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Ichigo growled and locked eyes with the grim reaper. There was no hostility lost between the two and Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if the grim reaper wouldn't prefer to fight with him over conducting an interview.

"Just answer the question." Michael said through gritted teeth.

They glared at each other a little more before Ichigo answered with a firm voice that didn't even try to hide his frustration. "If I ever thought that Soul Society was to do something stupid or dangerous I would stop them. But I can assure you that they don't do stuff like that."

Michael raised a triumphant eyebrow. "What about the three traitors then?"

Ichigo scowled in response. "They were exceptions." He stated harshly.

Smirking as though he'd won a game of chess Michael decided to change the subject.

"I've read some interesting reports about you. But there's still something that's unclear to me. What exactly are you?" He questioned, the arrogant levity replaced with serious curiosity.

"I'm a human." Ichigo answered shortly.

"That can use shinigami powers." Michael countered.

"It's happened before." Ichigo reasoned, remembering a few explanations he'd heard about the subject.

"And hollow powers." Michael added with a glare.

A tense silence.

"Fine. I'm a human with an unusual soul. That good enough for you?" Ichigo finally answered.

A small glare told Ichigo that it wasn't good enough. But Michael didn't push it any further. "And you are in control of these abilities of yours, even though they're so… divergent from one another."

"Yeah, I've got them under control." Ichigo wisely omitted to mention the problem he had in getting to this point or that his hollow-based powers currently weren't entirely reliable. Of course, for every compromising comment a man avoids uttering there's at least 100 more lines that would even worse to say. Ichigo picked one of those 100 lines. "Would you like a demonstration?"

Once again their eyes locked. "Now, how am I supposed to take that?" Michael said as his body tensed into a battle ready state. "I could interpret it as an honest suggestion to demonstrate your abilities. On the other hand, it could be a friendly challenge, meant to test the skills of a new acquaintance. Or maybe… just maybe you're trying to threaten me." He crossed his arms and emitted just a bit more reiatsu than usual. "Which is it Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Ichigo didn't react to the increased reiatsu output. He just stared down Michael in silence, bottling up his frustrations with the grim reaper until he could give a restrained enough answer. "Just asking, didn't mean anything by it." He lied. This wasn't the time or place for a battle.

"Sure you didn't." Michael muttered just loudly enough for Ichigo to hear. The strawberry haired teen tightened his fists.

"I can imagine that learning how to control the powers that comes with your 'unusual soul' was quite difficult. Did you have any help in accomplishing this?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow finding the question suspicious. "Shinigami that had been unjustly exiled from Soul Society taught me how to control my powers." He answered, keeping several of his friends' identities secret.

"And this would be the v…" Michael stopped mid-sentence as the expression on both his and Ichigo's faces twisted in shock.

Garganta portals were opening up all over Karakura town and reiatsu was leaking through them. As they fully opened the large and lumbering shapes of multiple gillian class hollows stepped through.

"Gillians." Ichigo said after regaining his composure from the surprise. "So many of them. What's going on?" He scanned the city with a worried glance. While he could easily destroy any one of them it would be extremely difficult to stop all of them from causing destruction to the city.

"I take it that this doesn't happen very often then?" Michael said, interrupting Ichigo's thoughts and drawing the substitute shinigami's gaze.

Ichigo couldn't see any other options. Why waste a potential resource by not using it.

"Hey," Michael turned to Ichigo. "I don't know you and I get the feeling that you don't like me."

"Well obeserved." Michael agreed.

Ichigo ignored the answer. "But I'm asking for your help. Me and my friends can defeat these things easily enough but the more help we have the better chance we have of stopping them before any innocents get hurt."

Michael nodded shortly. "I agree. For the sake of the people I'll join with you. Besides," He smugly gazed out over their opposition. "They're just gillians. They're weak and should be easy to dispose of."

As if on cue a garganta, large than any of the others was practically ripped opened. The creature that stepped through resembled a regular gillian in shape. But its size was three times greater and its mask was a large upside-down triangle with holes carved out for the eyes and crude teeth at the bottom.

Michael blinked. "That might be a different matter however."

Ichigo huffed. "Please, don't tell me you're scared of that thing."

The gigantic hollow raised up two equally large yet thin arms that ended with clawed hands through its dark body. Then it opened its mouth and screeched.

"_**BURN! CRUSH! OBLITERATE! TEAR! BREAK! LACERATE!**_"

In response all the gillian roared simultaneously, sending a chill down Ichigo and Michael's spines.

"Let's just kick their asses." Ichigo said with a strained voice.

"Agreed." Michael answered and the two grabbed their weapons as they leaped into battle.

* * *

**And that's, next time will have to wait but then we're getting some good old-fashioned gillian ass-whupping, do gillians even have asses? Until then.**


	5. Heroes vs Sacrifices

**Phew, sorry about the long wait. Vacation was nicer than I thought it'd be. But anyway, here's the latest chapter of this fic of mine. I hope that you'll enjoy it and even more that you'll take the time to review it. Happy reading.**

"This is… worrisome." Rukia stated simply upon reading the sign.

"Maybe they're just out for lunch." Tatsuki suggested.

"It says 'indefinitely'." Chad bluntly pointed out.

Rukia sighed. "Where the hell could they have gone? And at a time like this. It'll make them look suspicious."

"You mean more suspicious than they already are?" Tatsuki joked with a deadpan expression.

The shinigami was about to correct her human friend but found herself unable to do so. "Well… yeah you're right about that." She turned back to the closed door of Urahara Kisuke's store were the sign that announced that they be closed indefinitely hung.

Rukia glared at the sign, as if she was trying to make it blink and reveal itself to be a dull joke. She soon gave up on that practice and sighed again. "Damnit Urahara. Where the hell are you?"

At that moment a ring tone emanated from Chad's pants. Without moving anything but his left arm Chad calmly picked up a cellphone and answered it. "Uryu."

The two girls observed the large teenager as he carried on half of a conversation.

"He's not here."

…

"Them too huh."

…

"That is a problem."

…

"Ok, I'll tell them." With that he turned off the phone.

"Orihime says hi." He informed the two girls who by now had gotten rather close to him with the hope of hearing the quincy's probably more informative side of the conversation.

"Right, that's nice and all. But what about the vizards? Could they find them?" Rukia asked.

"No. They weren't at their usual hangout and neither Orihime nor Uryu could sense their energies." Chad said with his usual flat yet deep voice.

Rukia groaned. "What's going on here exactly? We try to do our friends a favour and they've all run away or something?"

"Do you think they might've hidden because of the grim reaper guy?" Tatsuki theorized.

"Maybe." Rukia consented. "Urahara will probably contact us somehow. But it's still annoying." The three started walking away from the store.

"I agree." Tatsuki said cheerfully in an attempt to lighten Rukia's mood. "But hey, at least it can't get any worse."

At that moment a small army of gillians stepped into Karakura town.

* * *

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The shining blue energy of Ichigo's signature attack briefly clashed with a gillian's red cero before pushing it back and destroying the top half of the hollow. Not wasting any time in celebrating his victory, Ichigo jumped through the air and struck another gillian up the head with a slash strong enough to cut its large body in half.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" The substitute shinigami swung his cleaver-like zanpakuto through the air while releasing wide-angled beam. It incinerated three gillians just as they were preparing to fire their ceros at him. Again Ichigo leaped through the air with the aim to finish the threat to his city as soon as possible.

"_He's certainly strong._" Michael begrudgingly thought while swinging his scythe-blade cleanly through a gillian's head. "_His spiritual pressure matches that of a higher level captain and his physical strength might give captain Sigfridsson a run for its money._" He threw up a quick kido-barrier to block a cero coming his way. "_His speed is above average as well._" With a sweeping slash Michael cut through two gillians that had positioned themselves on his sides. "_But he lacks discipline. His moves are those of a brawler that just happens to be adept with a sword and he's leaking far too much spiritual energy, though I guess that running out of power isn't that much of a concern for him._"

After narrowly dodging a cero that came from behind him, Michael turned his attention to the five gillian that were closing in on him. With a smirk adorning his face Michael disappeared in a blur. He reappeared a short distance behind the hollows, standing in a stance as if he'd just finished a slash. Not a second later the middle gillian's head fell cleanly off. The others followed suite.

"_Damn, the bastard is pretty skilled._" Ichigo muttered in his head before slashing through a gillian's midsection. "_Good clean slashes and he's got seems to have nice balance with that scythe of his. The control he has over his spiritual energy is almost perfect._" Michael suddenly cut straight through a cero blast before reaching the responsible gillian and cutting it in half with an dashing upward slash. "_And it's not like he's lacking in power or anything._" The substitute shinigami admitted. "_I bet he's a bit rigid though. Yeah, he seems like the kind guy that practices the same move 100 times before he's happy with it. He's got no room for improvisation and guts._" The two fighters rushed off towards the same gillian and simultaneously cut through it.

At that moment the same thing was going through their heads. "_I could take him._"

They paused and observed their surroundings. There was still a large number of gillians wandering around the city but they'd cleared their immediate area.

"We should split up." Michael said with the voice of someone who's used to the mantle of leadership. To his great annoyance Ichigo couldn't exactly contradict the grim reaper. So he resorted to calling dibs.

"Ok, I got the big one. You can deal with the small-fry." The substitute shinigami swiftly declared while fastening his eyes on the unusually large hollow that was standing eerily still after its initial proclamation.

"Unacceptable!" Michael loudly protested. "A threat of that magnitude requires a professional's skilled techniques. Not some brat hacking away at it with a sloppy hand."

Ichigo's eyes twitched. "Hey, I've defeated guys whose power would make that thing look like an ant! If anything I've probably got more experienced with things like this than you!"

"This is not up for debate!" Michael shouted back. "Just do what I say and…"

"_**OPTIMAL DESTRUCTION LOCATED! SHRED! PERFORATE! ANNIHILATE!**_"

Ichigo and Michael's terrified faces turned towards the lead hollow after its new declaration. Dark purple ceros blasted out of the creature's eyes and joined into one giant blast that headed towards a densely populated area of the city.

"_NO! Shit! This can't be happening!_" Ichigo screamed in his head as he flew after the blast. But it was a futile effort. It was clear as day that he wouldn't be able to catch up with the blast. But he'd be damned if he'd admit that.

"Maybe I can deflect it. Getsuga t…" He stopped in mid sentence when a large triangular, gold-coloured shield appeared in front of the cero and perfectly blocked the attack, harmlessly cancelling it out.

Ichigo came to a sliding halt in mid-air and smirked. "Awesome." He said with a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that?" Michael, who came up behind the strawberry haired young man, asked disbelievingly.

"One of my friends." Ichigo almost boasted. "We're damn lucky that she was there to save the day whil…" Again the lead hollow interrupted with his all too noticeable screech.

"_**SACRILEGE! HALTING THE DESTRUCTION IS NOT ALLOWED! REVENGE!**_"

It leaped high into the air and seemed to aim for where the shield has originated as it descended. At the same time most of the gillians in the area seemed to congregate at the same point.

"Crap, he's organising them." Ichigo could feel his body itch to leap into action, but he needed to take care of some minor business first. So he turned to Michael. "I don't care what you do from now on. You can help me take down the boss or you could pick off the henchmen. I'm going to help my friend."

Ichigo then quickly flew off in the same direction as the lead hollow. Michael took a short breath and relaxed to properly survey the battlefield. Gillians were starting to fall down in a few more locations indicating that Ichigo's friends were indeed able to defeat the advanced hollows.

The grim reaper looked after the substitute shinigami and sighed before flying of to an area that seemed undefended against the invaders.

* * *

"How are you holding up Orihime-san?" The quincy asked politely while firing a trio of energy arrows into a nearby gillian, toppling it over.

"I'm fine Ishida-kun." Orihime answered as she quickly pointed her left arm to the side to widen her shield so that it would block yet another gillian's cero. "But it is getting a little crowded here."

Uryu noticed the nervousness in her voice and scanned their surrounding area. There were indeed an increasingly alarming number of hollows surrounding them. He pushed his glasses back a little, reflecting the sunlight off of them. "Give me a moment."

Faster than the human eye could perceive Ishida Uryu jumped into the air, used his hiryuken technique to launch himself at the hollow closest to his friend. Once in front of the nigh-mindless beast Uryu blasted it with a spray of arrows. Not stopping there Uryu flew in a vague circle shape around the rooftop that he and Orihime has positioned themselves on at the same time as he fired arrows at a rate that befitted a machine-gun rather than an bow. By the time he returned to Orihime's side a dozen shredded gillian crumbled down to the ground.

"Thank you Ishida-kun." Orihime said with a short nod as her shield dispersed and reformed into parts of her hairpin.

Uryu nonchalantly waved a hand at her. "It was nothing. You're the impressive one today." He said sincerely and couldn't hide the pride in his smile. "_I knew that she'd grown stronger but I never imagined that she could've blocked a cero on that magnitude._" He touched her shoulder. "Come on. We've got other places to be now." Orihime nodded and the two bent their legs to leap into action.

They stopped in mid-motion as their eyes widened and they looked up. A massive looming shadow was rapidly falling towards them and a primal sense of panic gripped their senses.

"ORIHIME!" Uryu shouted as the strawberry haired girl reacted as she'd practiced.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" She held up her arms as the shield reformed above their heads just time to block the colossal clawed hand crushing down on them.

"_**TRASH! SCUM! WORTHLESS INSECT! CEASE THE INTERFERENCE! DIE!**_"

At such close range the screeching roar was almost deafening. Combined with the pressure of the hollow's hand crushing on her shield it made Orihime visibly shake with physical strain. It took her entire being to hold the shield together. She didn't even notice that the hollow was swiping at them with its other gigantic claw.

Luckily Uryu saw the approaching limb and quickly fired so many arrows that he wasn't able to count them all. When it was damaged the hollow ended its attack in favour of reeling back in pain.

"_**PAIN! IT IS NOT ENOUGH! PUNISHMENT AWAITS!**_"

True to its words, the hollow's hand twisted around horribly as it healed completely.

"Great, it regenerates." Uryu said with a dark voice, frustrated with himself for reacting with panic. Now was not the time for such behaviour. "Round two is coming up. Are you ready Orihime-san?"

Cold sweat dripped down her face, her breath was strained and heavy and she hadn't entirely stopped shaking. But the determined look on her face answered his question before she did.

"I'm ready." She said with a breathless voice and put out her arms to direct her shield.

"Good. Draw his attention anyway you can. I'll see if I can take him down while he's distracted." Orihime nodded and Uryu blurred away.

The hollow powered up another cero blast as Orihime initiated her own attack. "Koten Zanshun, I reject." A tiny white streak blasted off of her hairpin just as the cero hit her shield. While she struggled against the massive blast, her own attack zipped up to the hollow's mask and cut a deep gash next to it.

The lead hollow roared as it turned its attention to where the attack came from. At the same moment Uryu appeared above the hollow without it noticing. A visibly large amount of spiritual energy was gathered on his right shoulder in preparation for his attack.

"Licht Regen!" A volley of 1000 arrows rained down on the immense creature with enough force to kick up a dust cloud that covered the hollow. To some it might seem like a victory but Uryu could sense that the creature was far from dead. Immediately after attacking, the quincy appeared beside his friend again.

"We need to get up in air. It's less hazardous to the surroundings." He explained to which Orihime nodded. Uryu wrapped an arm around her waist and the two leaped high into the sky trying to put some distance between them and the city. The hollow dispersed the dust cloud with a burst of spiritual pressure, revealing its twisting form as it healed.

"_**IT RESISTS! AUDACITY! PERISH!**_"

With a mighty jump the hollow had caught up to its two tiny foes much quicker than they'd expected. Shocked by its speed they barely reacted in time to the monstrous hand clawing at them. Shield and bow & arrow were all prepared to face the threat but proved unnecessary as a blue beam struck the hollow from the side. The attack was potent enough to knock it off balance, making it drop down a short distance in the air before recovering.

Uryu adjusted his glasses again while smirking. "Heh. Once again you just have to be a glory-hog and go after the biggest prize." He said to the new arrival that appeared by his side.

Ichigo hefted his sword across his shoulder and shrugged. "Hey, you had your chance to finish it off before I got here. Not my fault that you didn't."

"We tried." Orihime said with a relived voice. "But it can heal itself."

The substitute shinigami glance over at Orihime. She was sweating and breathing heavier than usual. He was about to ask how she was when Uryu stopped him with a stern gaze. Ichigo sighed, remembering how he'd been asked by all his friends to not underestimate them.

"So he heals? Big deal." Ichigo proclaimed confidently as the hollow once again appeared before the group. "We'll just hit him until he gets too tired to heal!"

"Sounds vaguely like a plan." Uryu said with a thin smile and Orihime nodded in agreement. The trio glowed brightly as they prepared for battle.

* * *

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia called out as she slashed the air while passing under a gillian's descending foot. A circular pillar of light shot up underneath the creature, freezing its left side. The hollow cried out in pain before the ice and everything encased in it shattered.

"_That makes four._" Rukia thought as she hastened towards the next gillian to repeat the process. "_This is easier than I expected. Has the training already paid off?_" A guilty expression adorned her face for a moment as she froze her fifth gillian. "_Should I have allowed Tatsuki to join me? No. She isn't ready for hollows of this level just yet._"

Her eyes widened and she skidded to a halt just as a gillian stomped down in front of her. Two more stepped out from behind it, all of them gazing at Rukia with primitive eyes. She gripped her sword tightly with both hands and jumped into the air.

"_Of course, I shouldn't be so conceited that I disregard these creatures as being below me. They're still a threat and must be dealt as such._" One of the gillians prepared a cero while the other two moved towards the shinigami.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" Rukia called out and pushed her thoughts about Tatsuki back for the time. She'd deal with the human girl's anger later.

* * *

"Not ready my ass!" Tatsuki shouted as she struggled against the rock-solid grip of Rukia's currently Chappy-possessed gigai. "I'll show all of them how ready I am! Let me go already!"

"Nuh uh." Chappy exclaimed happily. "Rukia-sama told me to keep you from getting huwt. So you ain't gonna go nowhere."

"That's a double-negative, moron." Tatsuki groaned. Chappy thought about this for a moment and then pulled violently on Tatsuki's arm as punishment. "OWWWWWW! You're hurting me! You're hurting me! You're supposed to make sure that I don't get hurt!"

"Oh, whoopsy daisy." Chappy said without remorse and eased up on her hold. "But honestly what can you do? Look at that thing." She directed Tatsuki's attention in the direction down the street where a lone gillian was wandering around, seemingly lost.

"Look at the size of that thing. It's enormimungous and you're like an itty bitty ant."

"Shut up." Tatsuki growled but was ignored.

"Can you even stand next to it without fainting? Nope. You're just a silly willy human. That's why Rukia-sama wanted me to protect you. Yeppers and you're glowing."

This time it was Tatsuki that ignored Chappy as her entire body was covered by a light blue glow and it became harder for the artificial soul to keep her hold on the human.

"I AM NOT WEAK!" With that shout spiritual pressure exploded from Tatsuki's body, easily throwing Chappy off of her so hard that she slammed into a telephone pole.

"UAARRH!" Tatsuki roared as she ran towards the lone gillian at a speed that would surpass most race-cars. Only when she was close enough to launch into a flying kick did the gillian notice that a hostile entity was approaching it. At that point however it was too late. Tatsuki had jumped so high that her kick hit the hollow right above its hole. As the attack connected all of Tatsuki's external glow seemed to rush to the sole of her foot and explode outward. The hollow roared out as it was snapped in half.

Along with the two halves of the gillian Tatsuki fell to the ground. However, instead of being terrified at the prospect of her body being broken once she hit the ground the teenager smiled brightly and said one word before passing out. "Awesome."

As she passed out a blur bounced between buildings and snatched her out of the air before she was smashed on the pavement. A moment later the hat and sandal wearing shinigami known as Urahara Kisuke appeared in front of the knocked out Chappy, Tatsuki safely sleeping in his arms.

"Mhm, that outfit makes you look chapptastic Rukia-sama." Chappy happily mumbled in her sleep.

"Aww, that's cute." Urahara smiled while he gently put Tatsuki next to the artificial soul. "You're certainly coming along nicely Arisawa-san. Here's my number, make sure to give me a call for a check-up." He picked out a card and put it one of her pants-pockets. "And now to make sure that nothing happens to the two of you." A quick incantation later a protective shield was put around the two girls. "Your friends are almost finished with the gillian threat. That probably means it's my time to skedaddle. See you guys in a few days. Make sure you don't let the bed-bugs bite."

Urahara shunpoed away, leaving the two girls to their dreams.

* * *

The grim one had finally engaged their sacrificial troops in lone combat. As predicted they were barely an obstacle for his talents. Aggravation was setting in as the realisation that the grim one's competence might protect him from the plan and hinder any opportunity.

Happy coincidence struck as numerous mindless giants assembled at the grim one's location. Despite his aptitude it was a certainty that he would be overwhelmed. Naturally misfortune struck at that point in time as flames enveloped the grim one's reaping tool, burning it into a new shape. Suddenly spheres and circles of fire struck down the grim one's opponents with greater ease than before.

Patience was one of his strengths. It was invaluable to their preparations. This situation however required another type of strength. With a thought his limbs moved closer and leaped. A number of the giants were now one with him.

Despite their limited assault options he utilised the giants' abilities intelligently, surprising the grim one. Within moments the flow of battle shifted and the grim one was struck down, repeatedly.

Holding his desires for revenge back he let go of a giant and hurried over to the grim one before the target's consciousness was regained. Within moments the mission was successful and all that remained was to observe the last stages of the immediate conflict.

* * *

Orihime panted heavily while clasping her knees. Even just standing in the air was becoming a chore. She'd positioned herself a distance away from where Ichigo was zipping around the massive hollow while slashing and blasting it with increasingly larger attacks only for the hollow to heal seconds afterwards.

"_Kurosaki-kun is still fighting with all his strength and he still can't defeat it. I need to do something. But what can I do now. I can barely stand. I need to think of something._"

Uryu appeared beside Orihime. But she was too tired to be startled. "I think that I have an idea." He said while coolly observing the ongoing battle. "That arrancar, Ulquiorra, had similar regenerative abilities." Orihime nodded silently. "He had limits to that power. If his internal organs were damaged they would not heal. I doubt that this creature's high speed regeneration is on the same level as Ulquiorra's so the same principle should theoretically apply to this beast. But…"

"You're not sure if it has organs the same way that Ulquiorra did?" Orihime guessed, earning a slight widening of Uryu's eyes.

"Yes, exactly. The only thing we can somewhat certain of is that it has something akin to a brain, otherwise it probably wouldn't be able to control the gillians."

"_**IRRITATING GNAT! CLEAVE! STRIKE! INCINERATE! ABRADE!**_"

The two looked over to the hollow that now had a large cut across its mid-section. As with all the other wounds it was repairing itself. "It also explains the… colourful vocabulary." Uryu commented as Ichigo skidded up to them.

"What the hell are you two doing? I'm pulling all the weight over here." The substitute shinigami shouted at his friends.

"We're strategising." Uryu countered. "You know, approaching the situation from a different perspective than hitting it and hoping for the best. We've come to the conclusion that striking at its head is our best option."

"Oh." Ichigo deadpanned. "Ok, give me a minute then." Before Uryu or Orihime could stop him Ichigo charged off towards his adversary.

"Hmm, let's see if his 'tactic' works." Uryu muttered.

"And if it doesn't?" Orihime asked with concerned and serious voice.

"Do you have the energy for one last attack?" Orihime nodded. "Then this is what we'll do." The quincy began outlining his plan to his friend.

Meanwhile Ichigo was heading full speed and the hollow's head, blue spiritual energy gathering at the edge of his blade. "Ok." He said confidently. "Let's finish this! GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

Ichigo swung his zanpakuto and released a giant wave of spiritual energy towards the hollow. Its reaction was however chillingly calm when compared to its previous behaviour. It still screeched though.

"_**FUTILE!**_"

It countered Ichigo's attack with its own massive cero blast resulting in an explosion that was strong enough to almost blow Ichigo away. "Ok, ranged attacks won't work. Then let's get up close and dirty!" He leaped high above the hollow and slashed downward at the hollow's top. However, before the attack connected the hollow slammed its clawed hands together, smashing Ichigo between them. Reeling from the counter-assault Ichigo was caught in one of the hollow's hands.

"_**PREDICTABLE! PLENTIFUL WITH WEAKNESSES! SUFFER YOUR FAILURE!**_"

The hollow gathered energy for a cero. Despite the immediate doom in front of him Ichigo didn't falter. "Oh yeah. Just you wait until I get out of here."

Ichigo began to visibly power but didn't get to implement whatever plan he had in mind due to the hollow suddenly screaming out in pain. Seconds later a thin, blue sword-like arrow punched through the hollow's forehead. As it thrashed around in pain it let go of the substitute shinigami, throwing him into the air.

Ichigo flipped himself in the air and watched as the hollow writhed in pain while letting out a deafening shrike. Ichigo blinked, a bit awestruck by what he was witnessing.

"I think that I nicked him." Uryu said as he appeared beside Ichigo, the vibrating Scheele Schneider in his hand.

"So you did that?" Ichigo asked with a grumpy voice. He was just a little pissed that he'd been unable to land a killing blow.

"Sort of." Uryu responded with the voice he used before going into longer lectures. "I had mostly calculated the most likely location of his brain so I was fairly certain that would at the very least cut it. We used your foolhardy attack as a distraction to get behind him and strike at the back of his head. I had hoped that I would've gotten a more direct hit because just a glancing blow would obviously not be enough to take this one down. So I took a precaution."

The pause that Uryu took here was completely ruined by Ichigo's follow-up deadpan comment. "Stop trying to be so dramatic. Just tell what you had Orihime do." Uryu's cringed at the blatant disregard for drama and theatricality. But he prevailed.

"I asked her to launch Tsubaki after my arrow. He followed it in there and stayed in case I'd miss. I'd wager that Tsubaki's the one that's causing the most damage in there." The two looked back at thrashing hollow while imagining the little black-clad fairy zipping around inside of its head, causing massive damage.

"Where's Orihime now?" Ichigo asked with a voice of a tired warrior that knew the battle was about to end.

"She's lowered herself down to a rooftop." Uryu answered with a similar voice. "Her reiatsu levels were too low to remain safely in the air and I doubt that she actually wants to see the pain that she's causing."

"Yeah, probably." Ichigo agreed.

Seconds later he flew off towards the hollow.

"What are you doing now?" Uryu shouted after the substitute shinigami who just looked back with his traditional scowl.

"Being a glory-hog." With that Ichigo raced up to the top of the flailing hollow's head. On the way he slashed through the flailing hands that had previously held him with the intent to kill but were now swaying around at high speed in panic. Ichigo smirked, revenge felt good.

Once he reached the head he cut it open. The inside was darker than the blackest night could possibly be and yet there was a tiny flicker of light zipping around in it.

"Hey, bug-guy! You can come out now!" At the end of the sentence Tsubaki came rushing out of the hollow's head, not looking very please.

"And who the hell do you think you are?" Tsubaki yelled at Ichigo with a surprisingly dark voice. "You're not my wielder so don't come here thinking that you can order me around like some two-bit zanpakuto." He went on but Ichigo wasn't really interested so he flicked the tiny sprite away with his index finger.

Seemingly aware of its impending doom, the hollow tried to shake Ichigo off. But like a persistent flee he held on, determined to finish off his opponent once and for all. With all his might Ichigo stabbed his zanpakuto straight down into the beast's head.

"**_AAAHHH!_**"

Ignoring the primal roar, Ichigo took a deep breath and unleashed his final attack for the day.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" The energy coursed through the hollow's entire body. Its black mass began to disperse and the mask cracked loudly. As its hands were in the finishing process of healing they began to break apart.

"_**DARKNESS LOOMS! CURSE THE ABERRATIONS! SUFFERING, TORMENT AND DEMISE BEFALL ALL ADVERSARIES OF LORD REX...!**_"

Before the hollow was able to finish his declaration his body detonated in a display of reiatsu explosions and shattered hollow remains that dispersed as they fell through the air. Ichigo wiped some sweat off his forehead and descended towards the rooftop where he felt Uryu and Orihime's reiatsu.

Once he reached it Ichigo took the time to get a proper look over the city. Except for in a couple of places Karakura town appeared to be gillian free, and in those few locations the remaining gillians were falling down and/or blowing up.

"Seems Sado and Rukia were enough to repel the invasion while we messed around with the leader." Uryu commented as he followed Ichigo's gaze.

"It wasn't just them." Ichigo corrected. "That grim reaper guy helped out as well. Which is more than I can say about everybody else." The strawberry haired teenager's voice rose along with his temper. "Where the hell are the vizards and Urahara's group? If they'd helped out this wouldn't have been a problem."

Uryu adjusted his glasses as he remembered that Ichigo wasn't aware of the mysterious development the rest of them had encountered. "We'll talk about that later. Let's go assemble with the rest."

Ichigo stared at the quincy for a moment but decided to trust his friend. Instead of pressing the matter Ichigo turned to Orihime who was on her knees and looking up as the last few remains of the lead hollow broke apart. "Hey, you ok Inoue?"

The girl in question snapped out of her thoughts and yelped a little when she noticed how close Ichigo had leaned in. "I'm fine Kurosaki-kun. Just a little tired and…" She trailed off while looking into the air again.

"Yeah, and what?" Ichigo looked in the same direction but couldn't make out anything of particular interest.

Orihime sighed. "Nothing that can't wait." She said with a tired smile. Ichigo looked sceptical. "I promise you Kurosaki-kun. It's not important right now."

A few seconds passed before Ichigo nodded. "Ok. Then lets go find our friends." He proceeded to pick up the busty girl in his arms, bridal style.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime protested. "What are you doing?"

"You said that you were tired." Ichigo answered simply.

"Yes, but not… that tired." She moaned. Fate seemed determined to prove her wrong as she suddenly let out a long yawn. Ichigo tried to keep himself thinking how cute yawing Orihime was.

"Yeah right." Ichigo commented shortly. "You need to rest up so that you can heal any of us if need be." He leaped off the building, not at all concerned about leaving the bespectacled quincy who had observed the two behind. Uryu shook his head and followed.

Once the shock of being carried by Ichigo had settled in as comfortably in Orihime's mind as the girl herself was in her crush's arms she started thinking about the giant hollow's last words again. They worried her, mostly because she believed that she knew who the hollow had been cursing. And without Urahara nearby she had no way of warning her friends.

* * *

Tatsuki woke up to the sound of arguing voices. When she slowly opened up her eyes the initial impression was confirmed by the sight of Ichigo shouting at Chappy who was hiding behind Rukia's back. That she was viewing them from behind a golden wall of see-through energy indicated that her best friend was in the process of healing her.

"Hi Orihime-chan." Tatsuki greeted to announce that she'd regained consciousness.

"Ah, Tatsuki-chan." Orihime's voice was happy and relived, earning a bright smile from the dark haired girl. "What happened to you? Your body was almost completely drained of spiritual energy. I was worried that we'd come too late."

Tatsuki suspected that her friend wanted to continue but Ichigo suddenly appeared above the golden wall holding Chappy by her head, a frantic expression on his face. "Good, you're awake. Did this annoying little thing do something to you? I'll stomp her to the ground no matter what she did and…" Rukia's trademark flying kick cut Ichigo off and she put herself between him and Chappy once again.

"I am sorry that Chappy was unable to protect you as I instructed, Tatsuki-san." The short shinigami turned her head to glare at Ichigo. "But I'm certain that she wouldn't endanger your life in any fashion."

Tatsuki smirked happily once Orihime had finished healing her. She'd enjoy retelling what she'd experienced to her friends. "It's ok, she's a jerk but Chappy did keep me away from danger. I'm the one that ran in half-cocked and destroyed a gillian, knocking myself out with exhaustion."

"See Ichigo, she's ok and… Did you just say that you killed a gillian?" Rukia asked and all eyes were on Tatsuki. She rather enjoyed the attention.

"Yep."

For a few moments Ichigo, Orihime, Rukia, Uryu and Chappy all stared at Tatsuki, their eyes wide with surprise. Then Ichigo had to go and ruin the moment. "Big deal, I killed 21 or something like that. What about you Ishida?"

The quincy frowned as he revealed the number of hollow's he'd slain. "17."

Rukia jumped in before any mocking could be thrown the quincy's way. "Not that it's anything to brag about but I myself defeated 26 hollows." She grinned triumphantly at Ichigo who glared at her.

"That's pretty good I guess. But my last one was the big boss. It should count for more." He protested.

"I got 38 of them." Chad said as he walked up to the group, silencing any further argument. "Is everybody ok?"

"Yeah, we're good." Tatsuki said and got to her feet. "Where's the other guy? The reaper-dude?"

"My name is Michael Graystone and I'm a lieutenant class grim reaper. I'm not a 'reaper-dude'." Michael said with a harsh tone as he touched down in front of the group. He was a mess with his clothes having gotten dirtied, dishevelled and burnt during the battle. A trickle of blood flowed down the side of his face.

"I can heal you lieutenant Graystone." Orihime said as she walked up towards the grim reaper. But Michael held up a hand, indicating that he didn't agree with the suggestion.

"That is not needed. I shall summon the medical officer that is currently residing in Soul Society instead. Your assistance is not required." He turned to Ichigo. "We shall have to continue our interview at another date. But don't think that you're off the hook." With that he took off to locations unknown, leaving a perturbed group behind. None of them were aware that in the back of Michael's head a barely audible voice congratulated him on getting away.

* * *

It was a novelty that his immense partner appeared in the cavern more than once a day. Neither appreciated the other's methods but it allowed for a two front war. Eventually they would predictably not require the other but until that occasion they remained collaborators and updates were beneficial.

"Did you manage?" The shadowed giant asked with the implication that their alliance would not survive failure.

"Yes. However, the desired result will not be immediate. I assume that I will be not be pressured by unrealistic expectations." The ancient voice warned.

"Then how long shall it take?" The giant growled, clearly displeased.

"Three days if his mind is frail. A week if it's tough. Rest assured that he will be our instrument." It spoke with the tone one uses to calm down drunkards.

"Just attend to your end. My forces will increase our assault-frequency. Soon the aberrations will be cornered and exterminated." Without another word he turned around and lumbered away to exit the cave. Once he could neither been seen nor heard his partner let out a wheezing breath and focused.

Delicate was his assignment and any miscalculation would be a disastrous set-back. Sadly this forced him to fast. His limbs would move but he would slumber. Luckily the rewards for success were worth the effort.

And the enjoyment of breaking a mind never ceased to amuse.

* * *

**Right, that's that for this chapter. Not much of grim reapers this time. That'll be fixed in the next chapter. Hope you'll join me at that time. Until then.**


	6. The Fighter and the Healer

**Sorry if this is sort of late. A new term has begun. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope that you'll enjoy reading it. A bit more regarding the Grim Reapers is revealed it.**

"_Suspicious things are happening that have led to me and Shinji-kun deciding that it's best if our two groups lay low for a little while._

_Once we've set up everything we need we'll contact you. Until then, beware of your surroundings and that grim reaper fellow._

_Yours truly, Urahara Kisuke_"

"That's it?" Ichigo deadpanned.

"Yeah." Tatsuki answered after turning the letter around to check if there was anything on the back. "That's it. Cryptic bastard isn't he."

"I bet it's uninformative just in case some bad guy was to get a hold of the letter." Orihime suggested kindly.

"I wonder what suspicions Urahara-san has against the grim reaper." Uryu said out loud in order to steer the conversation back onto important matters. It'd been a day since the battle against the gillian army and in that time Tatsuki had discovered the letter left to her by Urahara and met up in the karate practicing girl's room to discuss it. On the other hand, they hadn't heard anything from Michael.

"He probably knows that grim reapers are crappy at showing up when they're supposed to." Ichigo muttered.

"I'm certain that there's a perfectly good reason that we haven't seen him since the battle. He might've been more injured that he thought he was and is currently recovering." Rukia suggested fairly.

"Well, then that'd be his fault for not getting healed by Orihime." Ichigo looked out of Tatuksi's window. "Man, if one grim reaper is this annoying I wonder how troublesome all the ones over at Soul Society must be."

* * *

Soul Society was experiencing yet another beautiful, sunny day with several shinigami venturing out to enjoy the weather. Because of this several of them would witness an individual as out of place as a tiger at the North Pole.

Beileag Greer, the short, red-headed body guard of the grim reapers, jovially strutted through the barracks of the Gotei 13. She'd been doing this for the past two days with the thought that she was inspecting any flaws in the shinigami inner defences proudly circling around in her head. In reality her captain had just wanted to get her out of his way. By now she'd covered most of the large complex and had become something of a novelty for the native inhabitants. Not only was she dressed differently and carried a different weapon but the way she greeted them all was rather special.

"Flying donkey gold." Beileag hailed a couple that she walked past as she left the 10th division area. The duo just stared at her with dumbfounded looks as she strolled on. By now she'd gotten used to the shinigami rudely not responding to her neighbourly hello.

"Maybe they don't expect me to have such skill with their language? I shock them with how well-schooled I am." The read headed grim reaper nodded confidently to herself. "Now, if I could just figure out why I don't understand what they're saying." She pondered for minute and suddenly snapped her fingers in realisation. "They talk too fast because they're used to it and it's probably some weird regional dialect that I don't fully understand." Astonishingly pleased with her answer Beileag whistled a jaunty tune as she reached the 11th division barracks.

As she went through a list of weaknesses to look for a familiar and cherished sound reached her ears. Within the walls of the 11th division the reverberation of a pre-battle dispute along with the intensifying and foolish cheering of a rowdy crowd could be heard. It had an alluring effect on Beileag who instinctively jumped up on the division's walls so that she could gaze into an out door yard. Two shinigami were facing off in a shouting match with a large group of loud and burly ruffians surrounding them.

One of the two main shinigami, a bald one with a wicked expression on his face, unsheathed his zanpakuto. "You really want to do this man? I mean its fine by me, but I'm not the one that's on enemy ground." He twirled his sword in one hand and kept a firm grip on his scabbard in the other.

The other shinigami, who sported a particularly masculine appearance with flat black hair and sun glasses to top it off, already had his zanpakuto out and kept both his hands on the handle. "Please, real warriors don't need home field advantage. I'm going to kick your ass for leaving without paying the bar tab like that."

"That's what this is about?" The bald shinigami laughed. "I won the rights to free beer that day. You're just a crappy loser."

"Like hell you won! We tied that day and you damn well know it. You just can't count like a normal people." Sunglasses tensed up as warriors did before a fight.

"Only one way to settle it then. Come on." Baldy waved his sword as a sign to start the fight.

Before the two could take more than a single step Beileag landed with loud stomping noise between them. With her fists on her hips and a predatory grin adorning her face the short grim reaper figured that she'd appear taller than she actually was. She didn't.

Glancing at the two men on either side of her, who had grown quiet along with the crowd at the appearance of the diminutive redhead, Beileag pulled her war scythe off her back, spun it around over her head and casually draped it across her shoulders.

Her voice dripped with confidence and playfulness. "Pants bestrode of parsley luminescent anthropomorphosis. Lioness trudge up cockroaches at scorching boxes that flow. Globes drown curtains and leap with bookshelves." She put emphasis on her last point by striking the ground with the bottom of her zanpakuto.

Ikkaku and Tetsuzaemon stared at Beileag, then at each other with understandable confusion shining in their eyes.

"I think this is that weird grim reaper that people have been talking about." Tetsuzaemon said after a while.

"Oh yeah." Ikkaku agreed. "Ehm, what do you think she wants?"

Tetsuzaemon stared at the red head, whose expression was indicating impatience. "I think that she wants to fight." At this Ikkaku suddenly laughed loudly.

"This little half-pint wants to fight. Oh that's rich." Beileag stared at Ikkaku. She understood behaviour enough to get that the bald shinigami was mocking somebody, probably her.

"Your lieutenant is half the size of this girl you know." Tetsuzaemon deadpanned.

"Yachiru is… special, you know." Ikkaku countered.

"You're just scared that this one will kick your ass." Tetsuzaemon taunted, getting his intended opponent's mood to shift instantly.

"What the hell are you saying! I can beat anyone of those western bastards!" Ikkaku practically roared, falling for one of the older tricks in the book.

"Good then you'll take her on." Before Ikkaku could protest or agree, Tetsuzaemon addressed Beileag. "Hei gurl." Did you know that Tetsuzaemon spoke engrish rather well? "Juu vill fiet heem. OK."

Beileag ironically stared at Tetsuzaemon as if he was a moron, much like how people had stared at her the last few days. She shrugged and proceeded to jump into action.

The grim reaper attack her shinigami opponent with a heavy downward slash aimed at his bald head. Ikkaku reacted quickly by blocking the attack with his scabbard. He struck out at Beileag as she descended to the ground.

The red head reacted just as quickly as her opponent in defending herself by pulling her scythe back and blocking the approaching sword with her handle. With a forceful push Beileag got the sword away from her and jumped back. She took a moment to observe her eastern rival.

"_Good reflexes and he's ambidextrous._" She caught his eyes as she rushed him again. "_Awesome fighting spirit too. Finally some fun!_"

Sword and scythe clashed were pulled back and clashed again. Beileag moved to impale Ikkaku but he quickly deflected the attack with his scabbard and slashed horizontally at the short grim reaper's head. The red head leaned back just time to avoid the attack. She stepped back momentarily but rushed back into the duel again. Sparks flew through the air as the two zanpakuto blades clashed again and pushed against each other.

"_She's stronger than she looks and so far she hasn't shown the slightest hint of fear. What a fun girl._" Ikkaku mused while the two struggled to overpower the other. He spared a glance at Beileag's war scythe, which had its blade extend up from the pole, making it more of a pole weapon than a traditional scythe. The bald shinigami was tempted to activate his shikai and challenge his minute foeto a polearm duel. "_Not yet. No sense in bringing out the big guns yet._"

Loud cheering from the crowd pushed Ikkaku to kick up the fight's level. With a quick sweeping motion the shinigami knocked the war scythe away with his scabbard. It messed up Beileag's timing just enough for Ikkaku to attack her again. While she was unable to counter-attack the red head managed to step back just enough to only get a small, but noticeable, cut across her right cheek.

The roar of the crowd greatly increased in volume at the sight of first blood. As the visiting party Beileag felt the frustration rising and tried to calm down. A difficult task since Ikkaku had decided to not let up his advantage and pressed on the attack. The grim reaper was forced to back up while defending against a furious barrage of speedy slashes.

Ikkaku grinned broadly as he increased the speed of his attack. He'd quickly discerned that the main weakness of the grim reaper's zanpakuto would be its striking speed and that he could keep her off balance with his defence defence/quick sword strike strategy. The fact that she was unknowingly backing up against a wall while being pushed by his continual assault just added to his amusement. "_It was short but kinda fun. Let's finish this._"

With less than a meter separating Beileag from the wall Ikkaku lunged with a powerful downward slash, while keeping an eye on his opponent's scythe in case she tried anything. As he predicted he moved too fast for Beileag to block so she jumped back instead. But that wouldn't be enough. With his forward momentum Ikkaku would get a good, clean strike across her chest and most likely end the fight.

At least that was the idea but Ikkaku didn't expect what happened next. Beileag's jump actually took her further up in the air and further back than he had expected. It was at that time that he noticed the smirk on the grim reaper's face.

Using the wall as a springboard, Beileag leaped over the charging Ikkaku while turning around in the air. At the same time she positioned her hands at the end of her scythe and slashed at her opponent from a safe distance. Ikkaku grunted, keeping a cry of pain inside, as a deep gash was cut across his back. He stumbled a bit as Beileag came to a sliding landing. Quicky the shinigami turned around, met his opponent's eyes and they dashed off towards each other.

Both of them slashed diagonally at the other once they got within distance, the difference being that Ikkaku slashed down and Beileag up. The blades clashed as before but this time Beileag used the greater weight of her war scythe to deflect Ikkaku's sword and actually knocked him off balance. With a tiny twist Beileag had the tip of her blade pointed in her adversary's direction. She slashed him across the chest with enough force to knock the shinigami off the ground.

Ikkaku slammed to the ground and grunted loudly. With a heavy breath he pushed himself up again and locked eyes with Beileag. She was smirking wildly while leaning on one foot, with her scythe rested on her shoulder. A mad frown adorned Ikkaku's face for a few second before it shifted into an equally mad smile.

He ignored the loud encouragement from his subordinates and the taunting from Tetsuzaemon as he got back up on his feet. It was the short grim reaper that had given him two impressive wounds in a short amount of time that warranted his attention at the moment. She seemed to respond to his smile and the lust for battle in her eyes became even more evident than before.

"Not bad shorty." He almost whispered, since she wouldn't be able to understand anyway. "Let's take this into round two." He slammed the sword and scabbard together, earning a raised eyebrow from Beileag. It was swiftly replaced by an insane grin when she realised what her foe was doing.

"Nobiro, Hozukimaru!" Now wielding his own polearm, Ikkaku took on a similarly crazy expression and round two began.

* * *

"Our place is more… like a castle I guess." Lucy said hesitantly, uncertain of how to describe her home with Japanese words. She wrote a few notes in her notebook before moving over to the next bed.

"I think that this place is a castle." Hanatarou protested somewhat meekly, as was his nature.

"Isn't it a bit big for that? I mean, it's basically a city with really big walls at the edges." Lucy said a bit louder than she intended. Hanging out with the seventh seated medic seemed to have a volume-raising effect on the grim reaper.

"Well, what makes your home more like a castle?" Hanatarou argued as he followed her up to the next patient's bed.

"Well it's… a **really** big castle." Lucy stretched out her arms as far as she could to the sides. "Or actually," She scratched the back of her head in a pondering way. "It's five big castles placed on a giant hill and they're interlocked by stairs and tunnels with the biggest castle in the middle surrounded by the other four"

Hanatarou tilted her head to the side. "You have 13 squads too right?" Lucy nodded. "Then how do you divide the space between the squads."

Lucy grabbed the patient chart from the bed-end. She read it and talked casually at the same time. "Squads 2 to 13 have their quarters in the four smaller castles with one floor per squad. The bottom floors are designated sleeping areas and divided up in male and female sections. The 1st squad lives in a section of the largest centre castle. It's also in that castle that the captains' assembly hall is and it has a nice and big recreational area for us all." She looked up at Hanatarou, who was staring at her with wide and confused eyes.

The focused attention made Lucy flustered as she found the walls very interesting all of a sudden. "What? What are you staring at?" She coughed out with a strained voice.

"Nothing!" Hanatarou hastily assured the grim reaper. "It's just… your home sounds very different from this place. I'm not sure I can imagine the living situation properly." He laughed and smiled nervously to which Lucy calmed down and smiled lightly.

"Yeah, different." Lucy whispered. "That's how I feel about this place right now." She looked up with what she hoped was a professional face. "So, what are you doing about this guy's broken arms?" She asked loudly, intentionally this time.

Hanatarou blinked and shifted his gaze to the sleeping patient on the bed between them. "Ehm, we've given him the standard healing kido, after replenishing his reiatsu of course. And I think that an additional healing kido that's specifically meant to repair his bones has been added as well. At least that's what I think was done to him. I wasn't there."

Lucy placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from chuckling at Hanatarou's flustered expression. Once again, his nervous persona helped in calming her down by reliving the tension of the situation.

"Yeah, I'd guess that's what they did too." Lucy confessed after a minute of mumbling from her guide. "I'd do the same." She smiled kindly and Hanatarou's complexion resumed its natural colour. "Just one question though. What's with the blue casts on his arms?" The green haired girl asked with a curious voice while pointing at the thick, azure-coloured casts that were fitted on the sleeping shinigami's arms.

"Oh, that's an experimental new device." Hanatarou answered excitedly. "The idea is that they'll produce a constant low level kido to speed up the healing while the patient sleeps. So while the patient is calmly healing the medic can attend to other matters."

Lucy leaned closer to the casts, her eyes growing with awe. "Neat." She said absent-mindedly before turning back to Hanatarou. "Who in the division is responsible for developments like this?"

Hanatarou scratched his head in confusion. "Nobody. It's a cooperation between the medical division and the science division. They develop new equipment for us and we inform them of any diseases or injuries that might interest them. There are more specifics hatched out between our captains but I haven't really learned those yet."

The two walked out into the corridor outside the infirmary while continuing their conversation. "Huh, so your division doesn't do anything to advance the medical teachings?" Lucy said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Hanatarou was quick to protest. "Nonononono. There're a lot of people here that spend a lot of time developing new healing kido and/or researching weird diseases. The better you are at those things the more likely it is that you'll be promoted. We're also sort of scared what the science division will do with the diseases we tell them about." He laughed a little at his own joke, missing the momentary wide smile on Lucy's face.

"What about you guys?" Hanatarou asked as they wandered down the 4th division corridors. "How much research does your medical division put into medical research?"

Lucy hesitated for a moment, put the tip of her index finger on her chin, pondered and then shrugged to herself. "We don't really have a science division back home. So yeah, any research regarding medical techniques or equipment is in our hands."

"Doesn't that cut into taking care of your patients?" Hanatarou asked, concerned that there might be something wrong with grim reapers' sense of prioritising.

"No. You see, while our 13th division is the main medical division there's always a group of unseated medics in all the other divisions that can take care of any immediate injuries while the main 13th division take care of larger incidents, or whenever a noble demands any professional health check-up. So we're largely free to pursue any study that we find interesting. But of course when called, our duties come first. It's what we're trained for." It didn't sound rehearsed, but there was something about the way she said it that reminded Hanatarou of an infomercial he'd seen in the human world.

"Ok," The commonly cleaning shinigami commented with the voice of student whose mind was trying to completely comprehend the complex equation his teacher had introduced to him. "So grim reapers receive special training when they become medics?"

Lucy's face scrunched up in bewilderment. "More like the only training. Back home the medical division basically has its own academy while everybody else goes through the training camp." She said as though it was as certain the sun rising.

"Training camp? You don't have a school for grim reapers?"

"Nope." Lucy answered shortly. "Training camp. And it's hard as hell. You basically have three options. Persevere and survive. Go back down to town and just don't become a grim reaper at all. Or join the medical division."

"So did you try the training camp?" Hanatarou asked politely as they turned out a door that led to the division's courtyard.

"Of course." Lucy answered firmly. "Basically all my friends wanted to get strong and the best way to do that was to become a grim reaper. So I followed. I wanted to look after them." She looked down at the floor and blushed as her voice dropped noticeably in volume. "It took about two weeks before I dropped down due to exhaustion. When I woke up I was being cared for by a medic. I asked a few questions and basically discovered my calling." Her voice rose with each word and the pride she felt became evident.

When she realised that she'd just revealed something rather personal about herself the green haired girl looked at her shinigami guide. He was smiling friendly at her and she swiftly looked away and refused to speak for fear that she'd reveal something more.

"Heh, I bet that I wouldn't have lasted one week in that training camp." Hanatarou said with an unusually mirthful voice. The comment got Lucy to look back at him in silence for a minute as the two stopped. Then they laughed lightly as people like them do for a few minutes.

Their laughter was only broken once the two were spoken to by a friendly and joking voice.

"What is this I hear? Have you been revealing secrets about our end of the world to a shinigami?" Richard Hawkins teased as he came up behind the two.

Hanatarou's laugh weakened to a panicky chuckle. Except for Lucy he wasn't really used to the grim reapers yet. They still unnerved him. But he figured that if one of them could be his friend then somebody as friendly as captain Hawkins wouldn't be an unreasonable person. But that didn't mean that he would answer the leading investigator's question, no matter how unserious it was. He looked over to his new friend, hoping that she would break the ice.

Instead he found that she seemed to have shrunk. She'd put her hands behind her and pulled her head in as if she was trying to hide between her shoulders. Her back was hunched down lightly and her eyes focused intensely at a corner behind her superior.

Hanatarou quickly looked from one grim reaper to the other. From the tall grey haired man with an uncanny yet friendly smile on his face to the thin green haired girl that had diminished herself for unknown reasons. Hanatarou blinked and wondered if there was something that he was missing.

* * *

"Wow, they're really going at it roughly." Yumichika said as he elegantly tilted his head to the right, avoiding some random blood splatter.

Tetsuzaemon nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think that it would get this vicious when I set this fight up." He didn't bother to dodge the blood drops that hit his face and opted to just wipe them away. "I can't even tell whose winning." He commented, making sure his sunglasses weren't stained

"I don't think that it's about winning anymore really." Yumichika answered with a slight smirk on his lips. "They're just enjoying the battle. Some would say a little too much." He chuckled lightly as Tetsuzaemon frowned and focused more on the spectacle in front of him that was moving so fast that it would be a blur to most.

With blinding speed Ikkaku threw out three stabs, two of which were sidestepped while the third was deflected, and a slash, which was dodged, at Beileag's head. The red head responded with her own slash aimed at her opponent's waist. Ikkaku quickly leaped up in the air above the grim reaper and her attack. Once right over Beileag, Ikkaku stabbed down at her head. Before he could skewer her head the girl disappeared and reappeared behind her bald foe. She attacked with a wide swipe that Ikkaku partially avoided by dropping down to the ground. She still managed to nick him on his lower back.

Once he touched the ground Ikkaku jumped a short distance away as Beileag landed. But it wasn't to escape. It was to get a good distance that he could charge at his opponent from. Beileag happily did the same thing.

In a flurry of flying blood, sharp noises, flashy sparks and an ever-building dust cloud the duo clashed. They matched each other in speed and strength as their weapons clashed against one another and they move with a complexity and agility that most of the shinigami observing could just dream of replicating. They finally stopped with the blades of their polearms pushing against one another close to the grounds, their wielders staring into each others eyes with a frightening battle frenzy shining through.

Now that they had halted for once everyone could get a proper look at the duelling pair. Beileag had received the most cuts but they were fairly shallow while Ikkaku sported fewer but much deeper cuts across his upper body. Their blood had mixed with the sweat dripping down their bodies, causing them to be covered by a sticky mess. Not that either fighter seemed to be bothered by any of this. Instead they were just grinning madly at each other. It was more of a struggle between vicious predators than experienced fighters. When a moment had passed they went back to their ferocious duel.

In the middle of it all Ikkaku attacked with a strike that Beileag blocked by holding her scythe horizontally above her head. Thinking that was the end of the assault the grim reaper was surprised when her opponent's spear separated into three segments linked together by chains. Due to the confusing development the red head reacted too slowly to stop the chain from circling around her weapon's handle, allowing Ikkaku to it out her hand with a whipping motion.

Deprived of her weapon Beileag was unable to block a kick to her chest that sent her flying into a wall. The short reaper fell into a small heap and breathed heavily as she got back onto her feet. Cheers from the crowd were pushing for Ikkaku to finish her off but he opted to smirk at his new rival which was met with a sharp glare.

"Ready to give up?" Ikkaku asked, forgetting that Beileag didn't know Japanese. She seemed to have understood the intent though.

But instead of responding verbally Beileag silently stood up and stretched lightly. Then she calmly shrugged off her blood soaked suit and let it slide onto the ground. Following that she loosened tie. Next she pulled her chrysanthemum emblazoned gloves and tossed them behind her. All attention was focused on the sole female in the area as she took a few steps forward and shifted into a fighting pose with tightened fists.

Tetsuzaemon was the first one to break the silence. "Hey, Ikkaku. Are you just going to stand there and ogle the girl when she's challenging you unarmed?"

The bald third seat twitched but didn't answer, somewhat afraid to lose his battle focus and opening himself up to a surprise attack. At the same time he couldn't just ignore the annoying and loud questioning of his person. Luckily the girl seemed to share the 11th division's attitude that a fight isn't over until somebody isn't conscious. So even if she currently lacked a weapon he could take her on without looking bad, even if it felt a bit unfair.

"Oh well." Ikkaku muttered to himself and rushed at Beileag with the intention to finish the battle quickly.

He spun the tip of his sectioned staff to give it momentum before lashing out with it like a flail. When the blade was inches away from the red head's face her left hand suddenly grabbed the staff's fist section, effortlessly stopping the attack. Not a moment later her right hand struck out and grabbed the middle section and pulled. She drew Ikkaku in and quickly slammed her forehead into his face.

The shinigami stumbled back in pain. But that pause was a mistake as in the very next instant a rock-hard fist hit him in the gut forcing him to bend forward which put him in a good position for a bone cracking uppercut. It was a tremendous feat of endurance from Ikkaku's part that he was able to stand upright instead of being flung onto his back. He couldn't stop his shocked expression however, though he did try to cover it up with a large smile. It however just made him look desperate.

Yumichika turned his head to look at the currently discarded scythe with Tetsuzaemon following his gaze as the 5th seat spoke up. "I wonder how heavy that girl's zanpakuto is." The beautiful man pondered out loud.

"From the looks of it I'd say that it's heavier than it looks." Tetsuzaemon sort of deadpanned, unsure of what to make of the fight's current direction.

In the meantime Ikkaku had regained his composure and refocused on Beileag. Unfortunately by that time the red head was floating in the air in front of him while in the middle of a roundhouse kick that struck the side of his face and sent him flying into the crowd with a cringe-inducing crash.

Beileag smirked as she looked over at the results of her assault before running over to retrieve her scythe. She ignored it when several random members of the 11th division were launched into the air by a now furious Ikkaku.

"Get back here ya little twerp! Nobody treats me like that and gets away with it!" He bulldozed back onto their impromptu fighting area. Beileag's reply consisted of a taunting wink and a tongue mischievously sticking out her mouth. She grabbed her scythe and leaped into air with such speed that she made a sharp whooshing noise.

"I said get back here!" Throwing caution to the wind Ikkaku jumped after her with a roar.

The crowd stared after the two with dumbfounded eyes as a creeping silence floated around in the air.

Tetsuzaemon was the first to break. "That might've gotten a bit more serious that I expected it to get." He said with a sweat-drop coming down his face.

"Perhaps," Yumichika answered with a calculative voice. "But I don't think there's any point in stopping the fight. They'd just get upset and whiney about it. Best let them be." He turned to the crowd. "Ok, everybody you can either go and see if there's any actual work for you hideous apparitions to accomplish or you can fight amongst yourselves. As always I won't really care." With that he strode off along with Tetsuzaemon who had no intention of seeing a yard full of idiots beat the crap out of each other.

Meanwhile, in the sky above Gotei 13 HQ, a red-headed grim reaper and a bald shinigami were busy flying around and high speeds while trading attacks with their polearms. Ikkaku suddenly separated his spear into its naginata form again and attempted sneak and attack in as the top part bent around Beileag's block. But the grim reaper managed to jump back with only a lock of her hair getting cut off.

"_Hm, well this has been fun and all. But I think that it's time to even the playing field and end this._" Beileag thought to herself as her lips curved into a crazed smirk. She spun her war scythe above her head and jumped at Ikkaku who was moving towards her with his zanpakuto in its spear form again ready to stab his opponent through the chest.

"Slam, Branch of Demolition!" Beileag suddenly yelled out as she and her scythe were enveloped by a bright green light.

"Huh?" Ikkaku unintelligently muttered as he didn't understand what she'd said. Then his eyes grew in shock of the new form Beileag's weapon had taken. "Shi…" Was all he was able to utter before being struck out of the air.

* * *

"Oh come on Lucy. Don't tell me that you're still scared of me." Richard said with his ever-present smile showing. He touched her shoulder and Hanatarou wondered if he should slap the grim reaper captain's hand away. In the end he went for not doing it.

"N-n-no captain Haw-Hawkins sir." Lucy forced out with less conviction than Hanatarou had in his ability to become a captain.

Richard chuckled mirthfully. "I don't believe you. But I'll let it go, for now." He looked around his surroundings. "So this is where you've been the last couple of days." It was a question, just a statement. Nevertheless Hanatarou noticed that it seemed to make Lucy flinch.

"Y-yes captain." Lucy timidly shifted around and then spoke up with a hesitant voice. "Ehm, wh-why are you h-here c-c-captain Hawkins?"

"I've just finished interviewing the captain and lieutenant of this division. It went very well and overall I'd say that they were an improvement over the previous three divisions. Now I just have to find the seventh seat, apparently he had some dealings with the intruders." He turned back to the duo in front of him. "Do you know where he is?"

A few more seconds and Richard would most likely have figured out that the 4th division's seventh seat was in fact right in front of him. Alas, that would not be the case as a loud crash broke one of the division's walls and a speeding object obscured by a large dust cloud came to a sliding halt next to the group.

Once the dust cleared away Hanatarou's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. "AH! Ikkaku-san!" The small medic ran over to the knocked out and bloodied third seat, whose entire face was covered by a large bruise. "What happened to you? Who could've done this? Where…" A smack up the back of his head stop the frantic questions. The shinigami turned around to face his new friend.

"Questions won't do anything. Help me heal him instead!" Lucy got down on her knees next to Hanatarou, who followed and they began using medical kido on Ikkaku as other 4th division members came rushing to the yard.

Richard kept to the background pondering Hanatarou's question regarding who could've done this. He didn't need to wonder for long though.

"Booyeah! I win! I rule this region! I am the most awesome fighter ever!" Beileag shouted loudly in her native tongue a few meters above the divisions, her zanpakuto having reverted to its sealed form so that it would be easier for her to swing it around in triumph.

Richard sighed before addressing his subordinate. "Lieutenant Greer!" He said with a loud voice in a language that she could understand. The sound of his voice was enough to stop Beileag's celebrations and draw her attention to him.

Beileag's became noticeably flustered at the sight of her captain. "Hi captain Hawkins, sir. I was just… ehm… having fun and…"

"ON YOUR KNEES!"

Beileag instantly speed down in front of the grey haired man with her knees on the ground, her head hanging apologetically and her scythe by her side.

"! I was just having so much after being bored and maybe got carried away but the fight was fun and I didn't mean to cause any trouble and…"

"Shut up." Richard said with a bored voice, instantly quieting the rambling girl.

"Excuse me. What's happened here?" Unohana Retsu questioned with a pleasant and concerned voice that rang out across the crowd's chattering. Richard was quick to answer her, turning his back on Beileag and leaving her in her cowering position.

"Hello again captain Unohana, I believe that I can explain what's happened here." Richard said with a voice as pleasant as Unohana's own as he stepped up to the elder shinigami.

_**Two hours later**_

"Can I get up yet?" Beileag said with a tired and whiney voice.

"I don't know." Lucy answered while flicking away a pebble on the ground. The green haired girl was sitting on the ground next to her kneeling friend. "Captain Hawkins is still making sure that you won't get punished too severely for being an idiot."

"Why am I the one that's getting all the flack here? The bald dude was involved in the fight as well." Beileag muttered loudly. Her stomach grumbled.

"You're the one that sent him crashing through a wall." Lucy countered dully.

"You know that I'm bleeding right?" The red head questioned with the hope of raising some sympathy.

"That's why I'm here. If you fall down due to dizziness I'm to heal you. Besides, it's not like your wounds are all that bad." The usually timid medic's voice was noticeably frustrated.

"Are mad at me or something?" The red head asked, a little confused.

"Not mad, just bothered, and you're not the cause." Lucy sighed and confessed. "I don't like what we're doing here. At least I know that I wouldn't like it if any of these shinigami came and accused us of being bad at our duties."

"We're not accusing them of that. We're checking up on them on because our superiors' superiors are worried about weird incidents that happened months ago." Beileag said with a matter-of-factly voice.

"I wouldn't like that either." Lucy pouted. "And what's gonna happen if our findings show that they've screwed up?"

You couldn't see it but Beileag was rolling her eyes. "Like I'd know that. You and me, we're the bottom of this little group. Which is kind of funny, considering that we're the only ones that volunteered after all." Lucy frowned at Beileag's cheerful voice. She wasn't taking the discussion seriously

The medic was about to get off another critique of their mission when she sense a familiar reiatsu approaching them. Lucy immediately pulled her knees up to her chin, hugged her legs and looked down at the ground as much as possible.

"Hi girls." Richard said as he walked up to them, looking unusually tall when compared to their curled up forms. "Problem solved. We can go home for the day and everything's good." He said with a smile.

"So I'm off the hook?" The grey haired man's lieutenant asked carefully.

"Nope. Starting tomorrow you're going to rebuilding that wall you broke and fix this big trench the dude you broke the wall with dug up." The jovial tune made it difficult for them two girls to decide how mad he was if at all.

"And that would be all. You can get up now Beileag." She shot up like a rocket and smiled brightly at her captain. "The dude you beat up had a message for you after he woke up. I quote, 'The next time I will kick that little punk-ass bitch's ass. She just got lucky and surprised me this time.'."

"Do I have to apologise?"

"Not to him. Just this division."

"So… I kicked his ass and I get away with it without any repercussions." The red head mused evilly only for her captain to grab her head and turn it 180 so that she could see the wall she'd broken.

"You're rebuilding that, idiot. But yeah, you kicked his ass and you can do it again once you're finished with the wall. Just make sure to keep the fight in one place ok." He let go off Beileag who quickly saluted her captain.

Richard glanced down on Lucy and shook his head. "I'm going to go back to captain Erasmus. Beileag, let Lucy heal you and get back to our quarters directly after." He disappeared with a blur.

Stiffly, Lucy got back up on her feet and did as instructed, ignoring whatever it was that Beileag was saying. Even if Richard Hawkins worried her, Lucy would follow his and her other superior's orders. Because that was her duty. She just wished that she knew how far her duty might force her to go.

* * *

Ichigo sighed loudly as he propped his head up with his hand, the elbow rest on his desk. The classroom was filled with the usual chattering amongst his classmates. Keigo in particular wouldn't shut up about some concert with a band Ichigo had forgotten the name of. The substitute shinigami wasn't really in the mood for talking with the happy go lucky idiot that was his friend.

There hadn't been any success in find either the Urahara group or the Vizards and Michael the grim reaper hadn't shown up for the past two days either. "_Bastard thinks that he can just tells us to wait and then not show up! Then hell is up with that. Damnit, I hope that this doesn't turn into something troublesome again. Hey… why did go quiet all of a sudden?_"

Looking around Ichigo noticed that not only had everybody in the classroom gone silent, they were all staring in one direction, with most of the boys' mouth hanging shamelessly open. Once Ichigo looked in the same direction his traditional scowl mixed with shock and annoyance.

She was like a teenage boy's wet dream come to life. Her white silk blouse was unbuttoned enough to just show a glimpse of cleavage. She was given a certain air of authority thanks to the black, single-breasted blazer that hugged her body so well that it was probably made specifically for her. The knee-length leather skirt, Ichigo thought that it was illegal for a piece of clothing to be that tight, had a slit on the left front, displaying a long and powerful leg. And the items that topped the whole ensemble off were the thin, rimless glasses on her face and the, here's where Ichigo felt the need to slap himself in the face, the horsewhip that she was casually holding between her right index and middle finger. Of course it was carried by the large amounts of raw confidence she had in herself and her attractiveness, evident by the sly and playful smirk that was on full display and the way she strode up to the front of the classroom.

Tatsuki leaned closer to Ichigo and whispered to him. "Hey, isn't that..?"

"Yes." Ichigo growled, not caring about lowering his voice. "Yes it is."

She stopped at the teacher's desk, turned around to face the class and leaned back comfortably, with her hands on the desk, before addressing the class.

"Hello everybody. Ochi-sensei has taken a short leave of absence to livelier surroundings. In the meanwhile I will be teaching this class. My name's Shihoin Yoruichi. You may all call me Shihoin-sensei." With that she winked deviously at Ichigo who groaned, not even caring that the majority of the boys in his class were now glaring jealously at him.

* * *

**So ends another chapter. Please comment upon it in a review and you'd help me out greatly.**


	7. Her friends' guardian

**I'm really sorry about the long delay. College work keeps me a little too busy and with the more recent events in the manga itself this chapter got rearranged quite a bit. And a certain part was trickier to write than expected but that also made it much more fun. Anyway, here it is. Hopefully it's good enough to make up for the wait.**

**Also, in case anybody's wondering, this story follows the Bleach manga up to chapter 420. Then it diverges from the rest of the series. With that said, here's the chapter.**

* * *

"Get out of that outfit!" Ichigo shouted with all the finesse of a rabid bull, not realising how evocative the order could appear.

"Really?" Yoruichi said with mock surprise and looked around the almost empty classroom in an over-exaggerated fashion. "In here, with all your friends watching?" She motioned to the assorted group behind the strawberry haired boy. "Well, if that's what you want I don't mind." The suggestive and confident smirk Yoruichi wore as her hands moved to unbutton her blouse would send most men into comas. It said a lot of things about Ichigo that he instead opted to grab the dark beauty's wrists to stop her taunting actions.

What those things were is up to the reader.

To Yoruichi it was just another chance to tease her favourite human. "Ooh, so you want to do it rough huh? I'd like to see that." She had to keep herself from laughing uncontrollably as Ichigo quickly let go of her and backed up to his friends.

"Stop doing that!" He screamed before getting smacked up the head by Rukia who was tired of the sillyness.

"Please, enough of the innuendo Yoruichi-san. Just tell us what you and Urahara-san, I assume that he's in on this too, are up to." The black haired shinigami said.

"You're absolutely right Kuchiki-san." Yoruichi stood up straight and headed for the door, motioning for the group to follow her. "There'll be plenty of time to make Ichigo blush like a little girl later. We have somewhere important to be and this is the perfect time to get there."

She opened the door with a sharp motion, revealing a majority of the boys belonging to Ichigo's class with Keigo leading the pack. All of them frozen in the classic spying through the keyhole stances.

Large, embarrassed and apologetic grins met the beautiful substitute teacher before they all scrambled away. She responded with a smile so pleased with itself that it was almost blinding. "Oh, I'm going to love this job." Ichigo resisted his own face-slapping instincts.

* * *

On the way to the hideout Yoruichi was childishly ignoring any and all questions directed her way in regards to the situation. That did however not deter Rukia and Uryu from trying to trick something out of her. Ichigo, Tatsuki and Chad followed in various versions of silence. Ichigo quietly muttered about the annoying way they'd been contacted in. Tatsuki was just too happy at finally getting in on the real action to doing anything more that whistle while broadly smiling. Chad was just displaying his usual stoic demeanour.

Bringing up the rear was Orihime, deep in her own thoughts.

"_I don't know exactly what's going on. But I do know when something big is happening. Something big and dangerous._" She looked up at the back of her friends, the people that she loved and wanted to protect.

"_But to do that I need to know how to do it._" She closed her eyes, cupped her chin and scratched her head in concentration while listing the information that she did know. "_Someone that's controlling hollows attacked the city. Graystone-san seems to have disappeared without a trace. Urahara-san and our other more mysterious friends have hidden themselves away. Kurosaki-san likes sexy outfits but won't admit it. Other grim reapers are investigating Soul Society and we don't know how that's going._"

Orihime's face scrunched up as she tried to piece together an incomplete puzzle in her mind. Suddenly her face lit up with a bright smile and wide-open eyes and she triumphantly pointed a finger towards the sky.

"I'll buy a flight-stewardess' outfit!" The strawberry haired healer exclaimed loudly.

As the befuddled faces of her friends turned around for an explanation Orihime gradually realised that she'd come to a fairly questionable and sort of random conclusion.

She quickly disarmed any possible questions. "It's what I'll dress up as for Halloween." The answer combined with her sweet smile was apparently good enough for her friends as they went back to their own ponderings.

Orihime let out a sigh of relief. "_Phew. That was close._"

"So you think that Ichigo would like the stewardess look?" Yoruichi said from Orihime's right side.

The busty girl eeped as the dark skinned shinigami wrapped an arm across Orihime's shoulders and pulled her in so that their faces were uncomfortably close.

"Now, while I think that you could totally pull that look off you'll have to work on the attitude a little. I don't think that you're ready to act alluring just yet. So I'd recommend a casual and little innocent mannerism. It's after all sort of your thing. What do you think?"

Orihime blinked. "…eh….what…you…I…..Kurosaki…who…?" Despite the disconnected words Yoruichi seemed perfectly able to understand the younger girl.

"You taking larger steps in getting together with Ichigo of course." Yoruichi said with, according to Orihime, an all too loud voice. "I had no idea that you were planning on seducing him with sexy outfits though. Good for you."

"Nononononono. That's not what I… More important things are happening…" Orihime meekly protested as she blushed madly.

Yoruichi shrugged. "I know. But that doesn't mean that you can't focus on the little things. Like romance. And we're here!" Yoruichi pushed the younger girl away so that she didn't walk into a street-lamp.

Rukia and Uryu turned away from the kido illusion they'd been questioning for the last two minutes and the group gathered in front of a particularly dirty looking dumpster. Yoruichi walked up to the trash dumpster and opened it up with a wicked smirk.

"Get in." She didn't let the various wiseass remarks break her cheerful disposition.

Soon enough, one after another, they all climbed into the dumpster until only Orihime and Yoruichi were left outside. When the shorter girl got ready to climb into the suspiciously empty dumpster Yoruichi leaned in to her.

"We'll talk more later." That said she pushed Orihime into the dumpster before jumping in a second afterwards.

* * *

_The arms reached for him out of the darkness. His movements were sluggish and his mind confused. Searing walls of fire surrounded his being and an ear-piercing roar called out to him. A titanic struggle was taking place in the corner of his eye. He barely registered any of it. Was he __awake or dreaming? Who was addressing him? Was there a point to asking questions? The air was heavy. Fainting seemed like a good idea. But was it really?_

_Michael Graystone forced his head up, hoping to make some sense of his situation. The first thing he saw was a pair of malicious eyes gazing into his very essence. They addressed him with ancient voice._

"_Fall, grim one. Fall and never rise agaiAAAAHHH!" As the voice was interrupted everything felt lighter and Michael forced his eyes to fully open. The chaotic view made him straighten up and pull at his restraints. He would not submit._

_Unfortunately the eyes were prepared for this. Tactics would be altered._

* * *

"Oh my gosh! What's this, it's so big! How could such an ordinary looking dumpster lead to a massive and lighted cave like this one!"

"It's just a freaking copy of the one in your basement. We've seen weirder things than your stupid training areas. Stop acting like they're a big deal, damn hat and clogs bastard." Ichigo deadpanned from his place at the bottom of the human pile he and his friends now formed. "Give us a minute to untangle ourselves from this mess and we'll get right back to you."

"You're no fun." Urahara pouted but decided to let the group of high school students get their bearings. In the meantime Yoruichi fell down next to the group, but unlike them she landed gracefully on her feet. "Thanks for bringing them in. Any sign of the critters?" Urahara asked casually.

"Nope." Yoruichi answered with a bored yawn. "If you don't need me I'm going to go read some of the manga that hentai girl suggested." Without waiting for Urahara's nod Yoruichi strode away.

Once the group was standing up again a white and green blur passed by Urahara and attached itself to Chad.

"Chado-kun!" Mashiro ecstatically yelled as she caught the much taller boy in a bone-crushing hug. "We haven't sparred in days. I'm bored. Let's spar right now."

"Annoying moron." Kensei chided as he picked her up by the scruff of her suit, pulling her away from the tall boy. "They've got other things to do before that."

Mashiro grinned mischievously. "Kensei, don't tell me that you're… jealous." She blushed proudly at the idea.

Kensei rolled his eyes. "As if." He pulled the green-haired girl pass Urahara and Shinji, who was walking up to the group with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand.

"Ahh, I see that you all arrived here safely. But you're late for lunch and dinner isn't for another few hours. Just so you know. Any questions?" Shinji said and took a bite out of his sandwich.

Of the assorted group Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu and Tatsuki all opened their mouths to take up Shinji on his offer. Then Urahara brought out a blow horn and sounded it, halting any inquiry. "Time's up. I'm certain that you all have loads of questions so let's not waste time on you all asking them. Instead I'll just give you the rundown of the situation with the brilliant presentation I've prepared for you. Tessai!"

On cue the large former captain of the kid corps pushed a blackboard up to the shop owner, whom motioned for the teenagers to sit down while Shinji lazily followed after Kensei.

"Everybody ready? Excellent. Then let's begin the lesson!" Urahara's exuberant voice was met with unflinching indifference from the majority of the group. Though Orihime seemed to be completely focused and prepared to write down everything on a notebook she'd brought from school. Chad was a veritable stonewall as usual.

Urahara turned to his blackboard and quickly sketched up a lame drawing of a city and added some little strange dots all around it and finishing it off with huge KARAKURA TOWN at the top. He faced the group again and slapped the blackboard with his ruler. "This is Karakura town as you all can see. Now, can anybody tell me what these tiny things are?" He asked jovially.

"Rain." Uryu hazard.

"Something annoying and stupid." Ichigo muttered, clearly bored.

"Pretty pigeons." Chad answered, showing a teeny tiny glimmer of hope that was only noticeable if you focused hard enough.

"Dust aliens from the third largest black hole in the ocean." Orihime happily suggested.

"It's strategic locations in case another large scale battle would happen." Rukia said thoughtfully.

"I bet that it's some sort of secret weapon from some new enemy or something. Tatsuki said almost nonchalantly, earning a wide smile from Urahara.

"And the rookie gets it on her first try. Or rather, her guess is the closest. Well done miss Arisawa." Tatsuki blushed slightly at the praise while Urahara expanded on what she had said.

"To be more specific these little things are some kind of hollow critter that has been appearing around the city en masse lately. They're extremely well-hidden. I suspect that some of you have felt that something has been watching you for some time now." Mumbled answers of agreement came from the group.

"They're very good at hiding from even the most spiritually sensitive but we managed to locate them with a nifty little sensor I designed. But even when we know where they are they're surprisingly difficult to catch. We just recently managed to capture a few of them right before the grim reaper appeared."

"How long have you known about him?" Ichigo asked accusingly.

"Long enough." Urahara answered completely unbothered. "I'll get to my thoughts on him later. Anyway, when we tried to examine one of the critters it instantly disintegrated so we've left them alone for now." He snapped with his fingers. On cue Tessai walked up to the group with a container in his hands. It was a box with see-through walls the size of a small pot. Within it was one of the hollow critters.

It resembled a thin, white spider that lacked the thick abdomen. Dark blue markings stretched across the back and the front of its legs, which were long. On the end of each of the eight legs were three small and curved, dark yellow claws. The head looked like a cross between a spider's and an alligator's giving it an otherworldly quality. It stood perfectly still, crouched down on its long legs as if ready to leap away at the first possible chance.

"Cute." Tatsuki's voice dripped with sarcasm, after cringing at the sight of the critter.

"I know. It's really a fascinating little thing." Urahara's comment was ignored.

"So you haven't been able to figure out anything about it because of the disintegration." Rukia stated as she took her eyes off of the critter.

The shop-owner gasped dramatically and clasped his chest. "My dear Rukia. You wound me. I thought for sure that you had a greater opinion of me." He teased. "All research isn't dependent on material evidence." He walked back up to the blackboard and flipped it around drawing everybody's attention back to it.

On this side of the board a complicated and confusing network of lines, words and tiny drawings filled the entire thing.

"Ok then, try to follow me now." Urahara said and pointed at a drawing of several critters. "We know from their coordinated behaviour that there is some form of intelligence behind them. Whether they have a hive-mind or if they're remote controlled or something else is too early to say. It is however reasonable to believe that this intelligence is what directed the large scale hollow attack a few days ago. Since it was organised we can assume that it had a purpose. It might've been to gather information on city's defensive capabilities or it might've been a failed attempt to exterminate you guys or it could've been an attempt to get something." Urahara smiled slyly at the group. "Out of those options which one do you think is the most likely one?"

"Number three obviously." Uryu answered easily.

"It would explain why we haven't seen lieutenant Graystone." Rukia followed up.

"Yep." Urahara continued. "Our visiting grim reaper has been missing for a few days now and while you all may not have noticed it the critters have disappeared from the city. That was the only reason we could bring you here so early without them noticing it. So I can tell you this right now. We're facing a new threat. We don't know what it is exactly, what its capabilities are or what its final purpose is. And since we don't exactly trust the grim reapers yet we don't feel entirely safe about contacting Soul Society yet." A disgruntled cough drew the former captain's attention to the only real agent of Soul Society at the moment. "Sorry Kuchiki-san, you've hung out with us for so long it's easy to forget that you're actually working for Soul Society." He defended with smile that was supposed to disarm any hostility.

"What do you propose that we do?" Chad asked.

Urahara answered the question with a professional smirk. "As information about the enemy is still sorely lacking, me, Tessai and Yoruichi will continue to gather what information we can and devise ways of analysing the critters without destroying them. You guys on the other hand should just do what you always do." He paused dramatically for effect. "Get stronger." He glanced at them with his hand covering part his face and lightly pointing at the group. The mysterious shop owner figured that the way he said it would get them all pumped.

He was met with glares of boredom and an indifferent silence that reigned until Mashiro plopped up behind Chad.

"Are you done with your boring meeting?" Impatience practically radiated from the vizard.

"Well ye…" Urahara didn't bother finishing the last word as Mashiro grabbed onto Chad and dragged him with her, not caring about his silent protests and dubious expression, before Urahara even opened his mouth.

"Ok, so Sado-kun's training sorted out." Uryu commented plainly. "I've got my own to attend to but I can keep an eye on the streets on my way home. What about the rest of you?"

A moment's silence as the group pondered their actions. Ichigo was the first to speak up.

"I need to discuss a few other things with Urahara-san and Shinji so I'll stay here for the moment." His friends all noted the seriousness in his voice but none commented on it.

Instead Rukia voiced her intentions. "I'm going to look for lieutenant Graystone or anything that could reveal his whereabouts. I have a feeling that he might be in danger."

"Oh. And what about your training?" Urahara asked with a teasing voice to which Rukia narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"I have achieved… most of my goals in that regard and the results have begun to show. I believe that I can allow myself one day off." Her voice was low and just a bit dark.

Tatsuki move her eyes from Ichigo to Rukia and sighed. "It's like you're all trying to be overly mysterious." The comment earned a chuckle from Urahara. "I guess that I'll go home then and let you all do your thing."

The shop owner spoke up as the young girl got up on her feet. "Actually I'd like to have a few words in regards to training with you as well Arisawa-san."

Tatsuki blinked and then pointed at herself, the surprise evident in her eyes. Urahara nodded, a sly grin adorning his face. The karate trained girl greatly failed at hiding her excitement, though to her credit she didn't jump up and down, shouting triumphantly.

"So that only leaves Inoue-san." Urahara turned to the strawberry haired girl. "What would you like to do at this time?" He got no reply as Orihime just looked down on her notepad with eyes that were a thousand miles away.

* * *

_**5 months ago…**_

Letting out a deep breath Orihime wiped sweat off her forehead and leaned against the remains of a ten-story building. It was finally over. The battle against Aizen and his personal army was over. Karakura town would soon be put back in its rightful place. But before that there was a lot of healing to do be done.

During the last half hour or so Orihime had healed the most severe injuries that the shinigami and vizards had received. Most urgently had been Hiyori's bifurcated body followed by Juushiro's pierced chest, there'd also a fair amount of cut off arms. Right now the worse wounds were healed and captain Unohana was dealing with everything else, giving the tired human a chance to rest. So now she'd wandered a bit away from her friends to just spend a few moments alone before the inevitable celebration they would have.

Orihime smiled as she looked up at the sky. The real sky. Not the deceptive ceiling of Las Noches. She needed to thank all her friends somehow. Nothing she'd give them could ever compare to what they'd done for her but a token of her appreciation was required otherwise she wouldn't be able to sleep properly. As she was going through possibilities in her mind she heard a strange sound.

It was sort of a blubbering noise. Something you would hear at a pediatrician's office. The healer looked over to her friends to see if any of them might be making the noise, but they were too far away. The sounds she was hearing were coming from somewhere near.

A tiny voice in the back of her head told the strawberry haired girl to call her friends over. But it was overridden by her sense of compassion. She slowly and cautiously followed the sobbing, which was getting worse by the second. Nearing a building that had had its top blasted off Orihime pushed herself up against the wall and carefully peeked through a glassless window from a corner.

In the building ruins Orihime could see five human-like shapes lying eerily still and straight on the rumble next to each other. From her angle Orihime couldn't see their faces but the tattered white clothes they were wearing made it easy to guess who they were. However, Orihime's focus was on the source of the noise that had drawn her there.

A small person was on its knees in front of the bodies, visibly shaking with each and every snivel, cry and whimper. The figure was wearing a white two-piece outfit that was torn and dirty. Short locks of light-green hair were visible under a white one-horned helmet. Orihime remembered this girl.

"How did this happen?" The arrancar girl whimpered. "We had the espada and… and… lord Aizen. Hell… we were winning and then those masked bastards showed up and… WE WERE WINNING! IT'S NOT FAIR!" She screamed in anguish and Orihime's heart clinched.

Screams painfully shifted to weak snivelling. "It's not fair… I… I will avenge you all. I will get… stronger," She swallowed hard. "…I'm so sorry about this."

Remembering what she knew about hollows getting stronger and seeing the arrancar girl lift the arm of the nearest body up to her face made Orihime gasp loudly. In doing so she alerted the tiny arrancar of her presence.

In one motion the female arrancar stood up, turned around and pulled a scimitar from a cut-off horn on her helmet. "Who's there! Show yourself! I'm not afraid of whoever you are!"

Even in her own tired state Orihime could sense the arrancar's increased reiatsu output. But to be honest it really wasn't all that much, and it felt like a weak effort. Nevertheless, Orihime stepped away from the corner and faced the smaller girl.

"Oh, it's you." There was a tone of relief in her voice. She knew that there were more dangerous people than Orihime out there. Still, she didn't drop her weapon, which Orihime could now see had a dulled and chipped edge.

"What do you want?" The arrancar spat out.

"I… I heard somebody crying." Orihime answered truthfully.

"I wasn't crying!" The teary eyed little spirit quickly lied.

"Sorry." Orihime saw several bruises over the girl body. "You're hurt."

"So?" The arrancar's legs shook and she blinked rapidly.

"I can help you." Orihime said without thinking.

"Help me? HELP ME?" The arrancar's increased reiatsu output was much more potent this time. But still not a threat. "Do you think that I'm an idiot! You're the enemy! You'll just get some shinigami to kill me like they killed them!" She gestured to the five bodies, forcing Orihime to take a closer look at them all.

Four women and one man lay dead in front of her. Three of the females were severely burned and had their left arms torn off. The fourth woman along with the male had large amounts of dried blood staining their clothes. Orihime immediately recognised the last two as members of the espada. To see the still fresh corpses of two so powerful beings was quite shocking. She had to force herself to tear her eyes away from their still forms.

"I won't do that." Orihime tried to assure the green haired girl. She had no wish to put this person through any more pain.

"I don't believe you. Get in here." The arrancar girl snapped. Orihime did as told and stepped over the window sill slowly and carefully. She was ordered to sit down so that she wouldn't be noticed. This direction she followed as well.

"You're no threat to me personally." The short girl explained. "But I can't let you reveal my position. Just you sit down there while I… eat." Not taking her eyes away from Orihime the arrancar backed up to the bodies.

"You don't have to it." Orihime almost pleaded. "I'll help you. I promise."

"Even if you weren't lying through your teeth there's nothing a weakling like you can do." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Nothing can bring them back."

"Please... I'm sorry, what's your name?" Orihime asked.

"Name's Lilynette Gingerback. You'd do best in remember it, because in about an hour or so, I'll be known as the arrancar that killed all of the remaining shinigami." Her unstable voice wasn't exactly inspiring confidence in her boasting.

"You don't have to do that. I'll hel…"

"SHUT UP!" Orihime pushed her back up against the wall as Lilynette brought her scimitar close the taller girl's throat. "What's wrong with you! I'm you're enemy! You're not supposed to help me! So just SHUT UP!"

A tense silence settled between the two before Orihime answered Lilynette.

"You're not my enemy." With an easy hand Orihime pushed the dull blade down to the floor. "I know the pain you're feeling." An image of Ichigo with a giant hole in his chest flashed before her eyes. "I give you my word. I want to help you."

Lilynette stared at Orihime as if she was wonder if the girl was real. Finally she spoke back. "But… how could you…?"

"Do you know what I can do?" Lilynette shook her head.

Orihime got up and lightly took Lilynette's hand. "Come with me." Together the two of them got down on their knees in front of the dead arrancars. "Just sit here with me and everything will be alright."

Orihime held out her hands above the dead arrancars. "Soten Kisshun. I reject."

A golden canopy, larger than any Orihime had ever created before, covered the five arrancar and tried to reject the reality that they were in fact dead.

It turned out to be a horribly difficult task. Three times before had Orihime attempted to deny death through resurrection. On all three occasions it had been on singular targets and the results had been mixed. But none of them had been like this and Orihime suddenly realised how poorly she'd judged the situation.

"_Even in death there's so much reiatsu in their bodies._" Reviving five bodies was challenging enough. But in this case the collected reiatsu was so potent that it felt like a physical wall that she hit at full-speed and it was so foreign that it actually caused her internal pain.

She whimpered and visibly trembled as she built up a heavy sweat. The memory of a dead Ichigo flashed before her eyes again. Sharper and clearer than before, it acted as a sharp reminder of her failure at that time. Orihime's determination wavered as another wave of pain made her tired form flinch roughly.

"_I can't do this._" She helplessly thought and the canopy flickered for the briefest of moments. "_I…_" A whimper that wasn't her own came from Orihime's side and the healer glanced down at Lilynette, whose face was a mix of hope and sorrow.

Orihime's eyes narrowed. "_I __**have**__ to do this._"

As the healer steadied her body and focus on her task the canopy glowed brighter, enticing an impressed whoa from Lilynette. It also attracted some unwanted attention.

"There you are Orihime. We were worried that… what are you doing?" Rukia's voice called out from somewhere behind the healer.

The strawberry haired girl forced herself to slowly turn her head so that she could face her friend. The added effort caused her nose to bleed. No words were exchanged between the two as Orihime's apologetic face met with Rukia's confused expression. Orihime wanted to explain, she wanted to make sure that Rukia understood her motivations but she literally couldn't. Her throat was dried out so the only thing she managed before refocusing on the arrancar was to mouth a silent apology.

Small trails of reiatsu swirled around like steam clouds inside the canopy. Several waves of pain hit Orihime in rapid succession and as her body lurched forward and her eyes tightly shut she let out a hoarse cry. Then the wall broke and the god-defying power she possessed freely flowed towards the arrancar.

Instantly fatal wounds were healed and the breath of life returned to the four arrancar with a simultaneous gasp. The golden canopy shattered and a barely conscious Orihime shoot back, as if hit by something, only to be caught in the secure arms of her shinigami friend.

"Oh Orihime." Rukia asked sadly. "Are you sure you know what you've done?" She met Orihime's weary but sincere eyes and got a short nod in response. Rukia sighed but smiled lightly. "As long as you're sure. I will stand by your side. No matter what." She glanced outside the building where others were approaching.

"Ehhh." The previously dead man groaned as he sat up. "What? Where the hell am I? Oh who cares?" He began closing his eyes as if to go back to sleep. Then Lilynette kicked him in the head.

"Stupid Starrk! Don't go to sleep when you've come back from the great beyond you stupid bastard!"

"What have I said about waking me?" The male arrancar retorted before he realised that something was off. "Wait, I'm alive?" Like a bipolar person Lilynette suddenly started crying tears of joy and threw her arms around Starrk's neck while making nonsensical and blubbering noises.

"It seems that we're all alive." A dark female voice said from Starrk's side. "Question is. How is that possible?" Lilynette jumped away from Starrk and stood in front of the woman in question, who was dark skinned, blonde and had most of face covered by a mask with oversized shark-like teeth.

"I…dragged…bodies…big boobed girl…heal…and…you're not dead Harribel-sama!" Were what the woman could make out from the smaller girl. She nodded and glanced over at Orihime and Rukia.

"I see." With strained movements she and Starrk made it up on their feet and helped the three other women, whom all seemed like they still needed ample amounts of TLC. After helping the burnt trio up the dark skinned woman walked over to stand tall before the human and shinigami, looking as though she'd say something. Then her eyes suddenly narrowed sharply and glared at something behind the two girls.

"What's the meaning of this?" The sophisticated voice of Kuchiki Byakuya questioned. Drawing all attention to himself and his fellow captains, Ukitake Juushiro and Komamura Sajin as they appeared outside the broken window. The animosity between the arrancar and the shinigami was almost tangible.

But before anyone could start yet another fight Starrk stepped up beside Harribel, carrying himself as though he was perfectly fine.

"You all failed to properly kill us and we forced this girl to heal our most severe wounds." He said with a repressed yawn. It was a remarkable act. He followed it up with an off-handed question. "What's happened to Lord Aizen?"

"Dead." Komamura answered with a serious, yet tired voice. "Killed by the human, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Starrk nodded. "I see." He glanced at Harribel and the two seemed to have a silent conversation. It apparently ended with a nod from Harribel. Starrk addressed the shinigami once again.

"We're too injured to fight and you're not looking especially great either. Our leader is dead. We have nothing to gain here. How about letting us go for now?" Suddenly he had a surprisingly diplomatic voice that contrasted his lazy, almost apathetic, expression.

Byakuya eyes indicated that he wouldn't agree with the proposition at all and he reached for his sword. With a light hand Juushiro stopped his junior captain without looking at him and answered Starrk with a cheerful voice.

"Sounds like a reasonable idea. We're all too tired for any further warfare I'd say. As long as you leave immediately." Starrk and Harribel nodded and went back to their group. As they reached their subordinates a hole in space was torn open behind them, giving the arrancar access to a pathway that no doubt led to the dimension known as Hueco Mundo.

Starrk and Lilynette supported the other three girls as they walked into the portal. As Harribel was about to walk into it she stopped and spoke with a clear and serious voice.

"We will not forget what has happened here. I promise you that."

With that she walked through the portal, just as Inoue Orihime fainted with a satisfied smile.

* * *

_**Present Day…**_

Five months later and Orihime still felt a great responsibility for the arrancar she had resurrected. No matter what actions they took it would be directly on her head. But more than that, she'd given them a second chance at life and she wanted to make sure that they made the best of it. She wanted to protect them.

"Urahara to Inoue-san. Can you hear me?" The healer finally heard the shopkeeper's calling and looked up from her notes. "Ah, finally got your attention. So what are you gonna do for now?" He asked curiously.

Orihime took a deep breath. She knew exactly what she wanted to do.

With all eyes on her the strawberry haired girl declared her intentions clearly.

"I want to go to Hueco Mundo."

* * *

With a groan the grim reaper known as Michael Graystone sat up in his bed, feeling more exhausted than when he'd gone to sleep.

"Auugh, where am… what day is it?" He asked himself out loud. With weary steps he walked over to the door and opened it up. To his surprise there were several newspapers heaped outside. Guessing what had happened the lieutenant bent down and picked up the paper on top, looking specifically for the date.

It was Monday. "Crap. What the hell happened? I wasn't that hurt in the battle. Did I even call Lucy here to look me over?"

_I__ndifference._

The logical thoughts that were coursing through his mind suddenly didn't seem all that important. But Michael didn't quite know why that was. He felt as though there was something he should remember but once again he didn't know why.

_Casual conduct._

The red haired shook his head and decided to simply report an apology back to his superiors. Then he'd find the anomaly and resume questioning him and his friends. His duties would not be neglected any longer. _He would fall_.

With those determined thoughts in mind Michael went back in to get ready for a hard day's work.

* * *

**And that's it for this time. Again, sorry about the delay. Next chapter will be up sooner and will probably be somewhat shorter than this one. Until then, review and tell me what you thinking of the story so far.**


	8. Reluctant leadership

**New chapter out now. Finally I get to start using characters from my favourite group in the series. This time we're gonna focus somewhat on one of the until now neglected grim reapers. She's a piece of work and I look forward to what people will think of her. And that's about it. Get on with reading the chapter now boys and girls**

"_I hate this place._" Evadne Erasmus, chief of the grim reapers that were visiting the Gotei 13, thought venomously. Even if her she didn't carry an unflinching stoic expression it would be difficult to see her face as it was mostly covered by her hood. She was the only grim reaper that refused to remove her hooded cloak during work hours.

"_The air is too light. There's not enough wind here. Their food smells too strongly. And why do they all have to stare at me?_"

**Needless to say, captain Erasmus wasn't exactly keen on the foreign culture part of her assigned investigative mission.**

It's not that she outright hated anything foreign. She just preferred to experience it in short bursts and in an environment that was familiar to her. Her current situation had her surrounded by an entire city that she was unused to along with a culture that she didn't feel entirely comfortable with. It was very frustrating for her.

What was even more frustrating was that her assembled team wasn't working out as well as she'd hope that they would so that she could get out of here sooner rather than later. The only two individuals that had volunteered were slowly proving themselves utterly pointless to their endeavour. Their representative in the real world had been horrible at reporting back to them. And worst of all, her fellow grim reaper captain seemed to think that it was enough to interview and analyse one division a day and then take easy the rest of the time.

This was an attitude that needed adjustment and it was the very reason she was out and about in the first place instead of hiding out in her designated HQ at the third division barracks. If only she could find the bastard.

Caught up in her own petty thoughts Evadne failed to stop herself from bumping into another person rounding the same corner as her.

"Damnit. Why can't people watch where they're going?" She muttered not thinking about the person she bumped into.

"Oh, it's one of you people." Soi Fon said sharply as she readjusted her haori. The second division captain didn't bother hiding her casual glare.

Evadne recognised the look. She could tell that the shorter woman in front of her didn't enjoy the foreign element of the grim reapers invading her everyday life any more than Evadne enjoyed being there. Seeing a sort of kindred spirit Evadne decided to see if the woman in front of her knew where her wayward fellow captain could be found.

"You see second captain reaper?" Evadne asked clumsily, hoping that she got the message across.

Soi Fon stared at her for a moment or two before answering. "He's in the pub two blocks away from here." Then she walked around Evadne without sparing her a second glance. Evadne proceeded in the direction of the pub, after figuring out what had been said to her.

A few minutes later Evadne found the pub and stepped into it, immediately gaining the attention from all of the guests. Most of them remained silent, anxiously waiting for what she was going to do. All except one that is.

"Yo, Captain Erasmus, I'm over here." Richard Hawkins waved Evadne over enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically in Evadne's opinion.

"_Where's your sense of decorum bastard?_" She thought as she stepped up to the grey haired man, who was busy drinking his third cup of sake it seemed. A frown appeared on Evadne's face.

Richard ignored it. "It's about time that you got out of that stuffy office. Sit down and have a drink. It'll do wonders for your nerves." He used his leg to shove out a chair for Evadne to sit on but she promptly ignored it.

"How much of your work have you completed today Hawkins?" She asked, causing Richard's smile to falter.

"Really? You want to talk about business? Come on, we've basically got a shot at some free vacation time here. Live a little and…"

"Answer the question Hawkins."

Richard sighed. "Today I interviewed the fifth division lieutenant, Momo Hinamori. It was interesting as the girl was pretty close to that Aizen-guy. Though, I think that I made her cry towards the end. My bad." He smiled sheepishly.

Evadne forced herself to remain composed. "So you're telling me that during this whole day you've only interviewed a single person."

"Well, yeah. But she did give me lots of material to analyse and I'm just taking a break and…" Evadne grabbed Richard's tie and pulled him across the table so that he could clearly see the rage-filled look in her eyes.

"You have ten minutes to get back to work and from now on you will make sure to interview at least two divisions a day. You got that?" Her voice was filled with a seething anger and the reiatsu she was letting out made the majority of the pub occupants shiver.

Richard just stared back at her with his eyes narrowed. "You'd attract a lot less attention if you just relaxed and didn't wear that hood, captain Erasmus." Evadne's eyes twitched. "Don't worry," Richard continued with a cold voice. "I'll do as you ask. We wouldn't want you to get a nervous breakdown now would we."

Evadne pushed her fellow captain back in his seat and stomped out of the pub, not caring about the frightened looks she was getting. She'd gotten her point across and was eager to get back to her HQ. Unlike her peer she'd do anything in her power to get them all out of there as soon as possible.

* * *

"Are you sure that you don't want me to tag along with you?" Ichigo asked with a worried voice for what was probably the fifth time.

Orihime shook her head. "I promise that I'll be fine Kurosaki-kun. I'm just going there to talk with them." The healer didn't look at her crush. She found his concern for her well-being sweet and couldn't help but smile in spite of the dangerous task she'd set before herself. So she opted to observe as Urahara worked on assembling the pieces needed for a garganta that would lead to Hueco Mundo, and more specifically the castle of Las Noches.

"Maybe, but I seriously doubt that it will go smoothly." Ichigo's voiced darkened a little. "These guys held you captive not too long ago Inoue. So you'll have to excuse my mistrust of them."

Orihime nodded solemnly. "I do understand Kurosaki-kun and I might have agreed with you but… I brought the arrancar back to life and I need to believe that they can change for the better, that I did the right thing. It's the only way I'm able to sleep at night." She turned to Ichigo with a tentative smile. "We haven't heard anything from the arrancar since then so hopefully they really have changed." Orihime didn't tell Ichigo about her other reason for wanting to go see the arrancar. It would just complicate things.

The substitute shinigami sighed and supported his head with his hand. "Yeah, I guess. Aizen ain't there anymore to manipulate them so that's probably helpful. But still, I think you should be more wary of them."

"That's why Ishida-kun is coming with me." Orihime countered.

"But I…" Ichigo protested.

"You and Urahara-san have things to talk about. You said that yourself."

"Yeah but…. I… ehm… argh. Fine. You do what you gotta do." Ichigo finally conceded. "But if you're not back within the day I'm coming in there to get you. You got that?"

Orihime stared at Ichigo for a few minute before bursting into a fit of giggles. "Yeah I got it Kurosaki-kun. But don't worry about it. I promise you that I won't be a bother like that again."

Ichigo blinked. "You're not a bother Inoue. You're…"

"And we're done!" Urahara horribly ill-timed shout drew everybody's attention towards it, including the two strawberry haired teens and their hidden audience.

"DAMNIT!" Yoruichi, Love, Rose and Lisa all shouted from behind a rock. They muttered words of disappointment, threw away their popcorn and went back to their manga reading.

"Weirdoes." Urahara muttered. "Anyway, this portal should bring you straight to Las Noches. I'm not entirely sure if you'll end up outside or inside the place but that's not really important now is it?"

"Indeed." Uryu spoke up from behind the group as he approached them, decked out in his quincy outfit. "The important thing is that we have a quick getaway in case things get messy. I'm stronger than I was the last time we went there. But even now I wouldn't be much use against the upper echelons of the espada."

"Oh, you're too modest Ishida-kun." Urahara playfully admonished. "But your assessment is correct. That's why I've designed these." The shopkeeper held up a couple of black wrist bands with small glass sphere attached to them. Inside the sphere there seemed to be a dark vortex trashing around futilely. "These are portable gargantas. All you have to do is to focus reiatsu into the wrist bands and a garganta will open up. It's only good for a single one-way trip and the portal will close up the second you exit it to stop anybody following you. All good?" Uryu and Orihime nodded. "Alrighty then. Let's do this."

One incantation later a large, swirling garganta had opened up right in the middle of the cavernous training grounds. Orihime took a deep breath as she stepped forward to the road that would take her to Hueco Mundo. A place she wasn't exactly looking forward to revisiting.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back at Ichigo, who was starring rather intently into her eyes. "Make sure that you come back." Orihime deafly nodded as Ichigo let go of her and turned to Uryu.

"You too make sure that she comes back. You got that!"

"Thanks for the concern Kurosaki." Uryu deadpanned. "But there's no need for the order. I'd already planned on doing exactly that." The quincy confidently adjusted his glasses and stepped up to the portal along with Orihime.

"Within moments they'd leapt into the gaping maw that would lead them to a barren and hostile world full of cannibalistic spirits and unimaginably powerful monsters. Behind them the guardian of Karakura town stood alone long after the portal had closed. As if to say that he would watch their backs even from across the dimensions. He…" Ichigo elbowed Urahara in the face, putting a stop to his narration.

* * *

_**2 months ago…**_

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that again? I might've misheard you." Evadne cautiously asked the individual that stood with their back to her, looking out the office's sole window.

"I want you to lead the group that's going to investigate the eastern branch of Soul Society." A deep, female voice answered shortly. Evadne's eyes narrowed into a glare at the long silver coloured hair that covered the other woman's back. She held her tongue for a few minutes so as to not say anything foolish. When she spoke once she'd swallowed her frustrations or most of it anyway.

"While I am honoured that you have chosen me for this… extraordinary task I feel that I must inform you of a pressing concern that could hinder the mission." Evadne took the still silence as an allowance to continue.´

"I don't believe that I am the best person suited for this mission as I have certain prejudices against the other jurisdictions."

"Such as?" The other woman asked with a neutral voice.

"I don't have certain prejudices against other cultures that might interfere with my work. I'd get so frustrated with the situation that I couldn't think properly of focus on my assigned tasks. I can admittedly understand the language but I have certain difficulties in doing so. While my administrative skills are the greatest in our organisation I doubt that my cross continent relation skills are up to par." Evadne quickly counted up to her superior.

"I see. That is a problem." The silver haired woman agreed.

Evadne's mood perked up a little at this possibility. "I'm happy that you see it that way. Not to worry though. I'll help you find the second most qualified…"

"I meant that it's a problem for you. Not for me." The other woman explained, her voice not betraying the slightest bit of emotion. "You will take on the task I've assigned to you now and you will do it without letting your prejudices get in the way."

"But surely there are other captains that would be a better fit for this. What about Banes? It is a peaceful mission after all." Evadne tried with a voice that crackled with restrained anger.

"If Banes leaves his division would be completely unprotected and it would be rather disastrous if it was brought down during a surprise attack. You'll have captain Hawkins and lieutenant Lumiére there to assist you with any language problems so there's no need for a hissy-fit."

"Why can't Hawkins lead the mission on his own?"

"Because he's too much of a slacker to trust with anything else except for the interviews. Your administrative skills make you the best choice to spear-head the mission. Now, I expect you to do your job and not complain about this any more. Is that clear?" The voice was courteous enough so Evadne dared to voice a protest.

"But why..?"

"I said," Heavy reiatsu flowed from the older woman as she turned her head just enough for Evadne to see an eye covered by a dark red mask-piece glare at her. "No more complaints." Evadne felt her skin prickle and she couldn't stop herself from shaking and she was reminded of her position.

"Yes, captain." Evadne reluctantly said and the reiatsu stopped flowing.

"Good, then go prepare yourself. It'll take awhile to make all the arrangements. That'll be all for now." Evadne retreated from the office room without another word and kept herself from shouting furiously until she reached her own office.

* * *

_**Present Day…**_

With the humbling and humiliating memory of fresh in her mind Evadne refocused her attention on the paper in front of her. She glared at the foreign signs on it and cursed her superior officer in her mind.

"_It's a bit difficult using my administrative skills when I can just barely manage reading the blasted papers!_" A low growl escaped her lips, drawing attention from the only other occupant in the room.

"Troubles, captain Erasmus?" A helpful male voice said. Evadne composed herself a little. She would not look like she was losing her temper in front of a subordinate.

"No no, it's nothing serious Lumiére. Just a bit of frustrations with the written language." She looked up and tried to pull off a fairly jovial smile to show that she didn't let it get to her.

Lieutenant Nicodeme Lumiére stared at her, adjusted his rimless glasses and pretended to believe her. "Very well, that's perfectly understandable." He turned back to the evaluation reports that captain Hawkins had turned in. Then another paper was shoved into his field of vision. It was in Japanese.

Nicodeme looked up at Evadne, her hood folded back. "Ok, I'm a little more than frustrated. I'm also tired. Now read this to me." The lieutenant put away his own papers and explained the contents of the one in front of him to the captain.

"It's basically a summary of how the intruders escaped from their prison cell. Apparently one of the captains aided them in doing so." Nicodeme turned his gaze to Evadne and waited for her response.

She blinked once and then twice. "Really?"

Nicodeme shrugged. "That's what is says."

Evadne turned around and went back to her desk in the large and currently sealed off office, muttering all the way. "And this was back when they had all their captains. I'm surprised that the place has fallen apart already now that they've lost the captain-commander."

"I would believe that'd be your prejudices talking captain Erasmus." Nicodeme said neutrally as Evadne sat down.

"And what would you know about those?" The dark haired woman asked accusingly.

"Just what our own captain-commander warned me about." Evadne immediately deflated and sank into her chair. Clearly she was not in the mood for more work. "I understand that our situation is bothering you and I am sympathetic. But I would advise that you don't take it out on our hosts. It is true that they had a horrible time that they haven't fully recovered from. But those things happen. We've had our own fair share of unusual and disastrous event befall in our district."

"True," Evadne conceded. "But we'd damn well gotten the show running properly quicker than five months afterwards."

"They seem to be doing rather well I'd say. Nothing I've read so far suggests that they're experiencing any true drawback from the loss of their captain-commander or the central 46." The lieutenant argued.

"And what about the vizards?" Evadne asked with a bored voice.

The lieutenant answered with a question. "What about them?"

"The shinigami haven't done anything about them. No search and detainment. No imprisonment. Nothing. Examples of one of the greatest crimes in our society is staring them right in the face and they haven't done anything about it."

"According to the reports the vizards gave the shinigami a lot of assistance during the battle against the traitors."

"And then they disappeared and haven't been heard from." Evadne countered. "From what I've understood they were only out for personal revenge against that Aizen guy and then ran like the criminals that they are. Somebody should bring them to a trial."

Nicodéme noted the harshness in his superior's voice and sighed. "Again, I believe that your prejudices are dominating your judgement."

"Maybe," She answered with a dismissive tone. "I just wish that Graystone would find them already. Hell, I wish that the bastard would report anything in here. Hawkins is slacker, Greer is an idiot and pointless to this mission, and Fairchild is spending too much time with the shinigami medics if you ask me. I'd hoped that at least Graystone would prove to be less of a nuisance."

Nicodéme decided not to ask what her opinion about him was. At that same moment a blipping noise was heard from a little device lying on his desk. It resembled a calculator or a cellphone, just with a larger screen. The lieutenant took a look at it before announcing what the message said.

"Apparently lieutenant Graystone was exhausted after some fight against an army of hollows and has been bed-ridden for a couple of days. So he's not been able to make any progress during that time. He apologises for this and promises to make up for it as soon as possible." After reading up the message Nicodéme looked at Evadne who's face was turning a bright shade of red.

Nicodéme sighed. "_Oh hell._"

* * *

Ruins.

There was nothing left of the city-sized fortress known as Las Noches but ruins.

The sight left Orihime breathless. "What… what happened here?" She asked with an unsteady voice and took a few steps amongst the rubble. "Were they attacked?"

"I don't think so." Uryu answered his friend who turned her eyes to him for further explanation. "There's no sign of any casualties for one thing. No corpses. No cut off limbs. I can't even see any bloodstains. There's also this feeling but… it's probably nothing."

"No, please tell me what you're thinking Ishida-kun." The healer's voice was filled with a need for reassurance.

"When I approached this place in the past it felt as though the entire castle emanated hostility. Even when all the battles had caused it large amounts of damage the enmity would not decrease. But now there's nothing like that here. It's the opposite actually. There's a sense of serenity now." He looked out over the hostile terrain. "Strange as that may seem. It's as if this area has been cleansed of an unnatural presence. Whatever happened here it wasn't of an evil nature."

Uryu paused and adjusted his glasses. "Of course it's just a feeling and has nothing to do with factual evidence. But…"

"But I'm more at ease now." Orihime finished. "Even if it's just a feeling." She smiled optimistically at her bespectacled friend. "Come on Ishida-kun, let's find the arrancar."

Uryu nodded and closed his eyes. Seconds later a platform of blue energy manifested between the two and they got on; it was large enough for the two of them to stand on. Quickly but steadily the platform rose up to the dark and cloudy skies of Hueco Mundo.

"So, where should we head off to?" Uryu politely asked.

"Eh… Give me a minute Ishida-kun." Orihime said with a professional voice and started raising her arms horizontally. Then, before she could go about her business, the healer's eyes widened with shock and excitement.

"Over there Ishida-kun! Look! On the horizon!" Orihime shouted and pulled fiercely on the quincy's collar, surprising him with her strength.

"What? What am I looking for Inoue-san?" Uryu bewilderedly asked. Then he saw it.

Tiny but intense lights blinked in and out of existence far off in the distance. At first there was just an occasional one here and there. But very quickly the frequency grew and suddenly it turned into a veritable fireworks display.

Uryu's eyes narrowed. "It's a battle." Cautiously he glanced over at Orihime. "They might not be a part of it."

"They are. I can feel it." There was a distant alarm in the healer's voice.

"Ehm… just because I had feeling about the castle I don't think that we should…"

"No, I feel their reiatsu flaring up and down. We have to get there." The alarm was still there but now a tone of clarity had made its way to her voice. "FORWARD!" Along with the attitude of a commanding general that Uryu didn't care to disobey.

The quincy put his hands on Orihime's shoulders to stabilise her as the platform shot towards the cascading lights.

Upon reaching the field of battle ten minutes later both the quincy and the human took a pause to look in awe at the scene before them.

Dozens of hollows and arrancar, most of them in their resureccion form, were engaged in a vicious battle. From the looks of it the arrancar had the upper hand, even though a lot of them seemed injured. The burnt, bloodied and broken remains of the regular hollows that littered the sand made Orihime swallow in hesitation.

The battle was taking place in front of a hexagon-shaped building with a dome-shaped ceiling and six very tall pillars at the edges of the building. Overall it was about a tenth the size of Las Noches.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Orihime cautiously asked her bespectacled friend.

Uryu pondered for a few second. "I'm not sure. We don't know how the arrancar will react to our presence. But we might not earn their trust if we just stand here and do nothing. I'd say that we…" Uryu whipped around, activated his bow and launched a volley of arrows at the hollow racing towards the duo.

Despite its bulky dragon-like body the hollow managed to avoid the arrows and smash through platform with one of its wings forcing the duo to jump to the sides. Uryu aimed another spread at the hollow as it seemed to target its sights on Orihime. Unfortunately he failed to notice the hollow's thick tail flailing in his direction. It struck him heavily on the side and sent him flying down.

At the sight of Uryu's falling body Orihime quickly sent the three sprites that form her signature shield and used it to safely catch the quincy before he crashed into the desert floor. Naturally this left her completely open to the attacking hollow and its gaping maw.

Panicking, Orihime blanked on what to do and tightly shut her eyes so that would be spared from seeing her impending doom. Imagine her surprise when instead of being crushed by a row of sharpened teeth she felt a strong arm circle around her waist and pulling her through the air.

As the orange haired healer opened her eyes she could hear the sound of a sword forcefully stabbing at flesh followed by a calm voice. "Ola Azul!"

Unfortunately Orihime looked up just as a projectile of yellow energy blasted through the dragon hollow followed by the blade that impaled it swiftly cutting it in half.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Calm down. You should be used to sights like this by now. He is no longer a threat to you or anyone." Orihime looked up and locked eyes with the frightening visage of Tia Harribel's masked face.

"Harribel-san. I was looking for you and…"

"Are you able to fly?" Harribel asked neutrally.

"Yes I…"

Harribel let Orihime go. The girl fell a short distance before she made herself stand on the air. "Go to your friend and tend to him. We're soon finished here and then I'll deal with you." The espada ordered with a tranquil voice before speeding down to the battle once more.

Without any other option given to her Orihime made her way to her friend.

Harribel stepped down next to the fiercest of her personal servants, Apache, who was currently nursing a leg injury while muttering curses.

"How are we doing?" Harribel asked while looking over the remainder of the battle.

"Pretty damn good. We've killed most of the bastards with only minor and major injuries to our forces. There's only those five left." The black haired arrancar pointed to a group of five giant hollows that were doing a pretty admirable job of holding back a group of arrancar that outnumbered them three to one.

"We'll beat them but I'm not sure if we can do it without any casualties." Apache begrudgingly admitted.

"And Grimmjow?" Apache twitched at the subdued anger in her leader's voice.

"He said that he got bored with the small fry and went back inside."

Being a mature and controlled individual Harribel kept her anger in check, only letting out subtle hints of her true feelings. A tightened grip on her zanpakuto. A slight increase in her reiatsu output. Her eyes narrowed.

Her voice growing dark and threatening. "Take it easy Apache. We'll get you healed as soon as I take care of this annoyance."

Harribel speed away, kicking up a cloud of sand that covered Apache. The weaker arrancar watched as her blonde leader placed herself before the five giant hollows.

"Everybody!" Harribel shouted, gaining the arrancar's attention. "Disperse!" Without question the arrancar jumped away from their opponents. Leaving Harribel alone with them.

The biggest of the hollows, a four-armed giant with rocklike hide, stepped up in front of his comrades. Harribel could easily fit in the palm of its hand and yet she didn't seem fazed by her opponent's immense size.

"_**Look at this one boys. For a horrible aberration she sure is one hot little piece of ass. Do you think the boss would mind if we had some fun before we kill her?**_" The hollow asked to thunderous laughter from his comrades.

Harribel didn't respond to the crude remark. Instead she just held her zanpakuto in front of her and pricked her left index finger on it, letting a small drop of blood trickle down the blade.

"_**What's the matter toots? Are ya too scared? You afraid of what I'm gonna do to ya? Ya should be. Because…**_"

Harribel charged up as she pulled her sword back, grabbing the hilt with both hands. A pillar of yellow reiatsu blasted out from her, forcing the giant hollows back. The desert sands were kicked into a chaotic dance around her as reiatsu engulfed her blade.

The giants trembled. They hadn't expected to face an opponent that could paralyse them with nothing but her reiatsu. But the largest of wasn't about to let this hold him back. He would destroy the enemy and gain favour with their lord.

"_**DIE ABOMANATION!**_" He roared and lashed out at the blonde arrancar.

But it was too late.

"Grand Ray Cero!" Harribel shouted as she swung her sword in a wide horizontal arc. A wave of pure destructive energy was released from the zanpakuto. The force behind it was enough to knock over all of the arrancar watching the match-up, and it was large enough to cover the torsos of Harribel's opponents five opponents.

Ear-piercing roars were mixed with the sound of flesh being incinerated. Within moments there was nothing left of the five giants but scorched carcasses that toppled over into a massive heap.

Harribel turned around to face the victorious cheers of her subordinates and returned her zanpakuto into the sheath on her back. She blurred over to a crowd of about 25 arrancar and began issuing orders.

"Begin clearing the remains away from the field. All of the injured can wait here Sun-sun, go inside and tell groups three and four to come and help with the giants. Menoly, investigate if the fortress received any significant damage to it. Mila-Rose, go and get Starrk and Neliel." Harribel shifted her gaze to the newcomers a distance away. "Tell them that we've got company."

The lesser arrancar all lingered as they looked in the same general direction as Harribel, who didn't appreciate when her orders went unheeded. "I meant now!"

All of the arrancar speed off to their assigned duties. Harribel turned to Apache and lightly touched the smaller woman's shoulder. "Wait here. I'll be back with help for you and the others soon enough."

She blurred away and appeared in front of Orihime and the recovered Uryu the next instant. With her arms crossed and narrowed eyes she didn't exactly make for the most welcoming person.

"Good day Harribel-san." Orihime cautiously greeted the taller woman. "I… ehm… I… like your new outfit."

Harribel had indeed change her clothes from the last time the two had met. Now she was wearing a tight white tank top that reached up to her neck and all the way around her back, the edges were coloured black. On her arms she wore white, fingerless gloves that reached up to her elbows. Flat sandals with thin grey wrappings adorned her feet. Her skirt was white and reached down to her ankles while slits ran up to her hips. But the piece that probably attracted the most attention was the mask. Unlike her previous outfit this one showed the part of her mask that covered her face, giving her a terrifying predatory appearance. Like before her sword-sheath was strapped across her back.

The blonde woman didn't respond to the compliment. Instead she just stared at the human and the quincy with an analytical gaze. Orihime fidgeted with her hands and felt as though she was being examined in detail.

It took the healer a few seconds to build up her courage and speak again. "Harribel-san, I…"

At the same moment the arrancar bowed her head with closed eyes and spoke with a reverent voice. "It is my pleasure to welcome you, Inoue-san, to Las Dias."

* * *

Michael leaped from building to building, growing increasingly frustrated with each second that he was unable to find his targets.

"_I've only been asleep for a few days. The city seems to be perfectly peaceful still. Nothing indicates that anything out of the ordinary has occurred since the battle with the gillian. So why can't I find them? There should be at least one of the running about._"

He halted on a rooftop in the southern part of Karakura town to gather his thoughts.

"_Calm down, you're going to be a captain as soon as this damned mission is over. Start acting as a person of that position and honour._" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in concentration. "_Now then. Just because things appear normal it doesn't mean that's the case. What possible reasons could the anomaly and his friends have for hiding from me?_"

_Wicked machinations._

Michael's thoughts suddenly focused on a singular idea rather than considering multiple venues. "_They're planning something behind my back. Possibly with the accursed vizards. The shinigami have allowed the anomaly and his peers to operate un-supervised for who knows how long. Who knows what kind of dark and unnatural abilities that they've unlocked by now._"

His expression darkened with each passing thought. As his anger at the evil deeds he imagined was being committed rose so did his reiatsu output. Very soon a faint orange aura surrounded the grim reaper, making him a veritable lighthouse to anybody spiritually sensitive.

"Lieutenant Graystone!" Rukia appeared behind the grim reaper with a concerned expression. The suddenness of it knocked Michael's thoughts off track as he whipped around to face the shinigami.

"Thank goodness that I was able to find you." Rukia continued with a friendly smile. "We were worried about you after the battle. What happened?"

Michael just stared at Rukia, all the rage had disappeared from his face and been replaced with confusion. The dark thoughts were slowly fading and the red head was having trouble remembering what he'd been thinking.

"Lieutenant Graystone," Rukia approached him slowly. "Are you feeling ok?"

He wasn't quite sure how to respond. Michael quickly ransacked his mind and figured that the best option was _to strike her down._

**Ok, one down. I'm hoping to get out two more chapters before the year is over. And since my calender is getting sort of empty that will actually be fairly possible. So cheer me on for that. But for now please review and tell me what you think.**

* * *


	9. Foundations of a storm

**Hello everybody. I hope that you had a nice christmas and that your new year will be awesome too. My little contribution to the holidays, besides all the presents I've bought for friends and family, is this new chapter to my darling fic here. And I've almost finished the next one as well so that'll be up soon enough.**

* * *

Tatsuki eyed the red package in her hands suspiciously. It didn't look particularly dangerous or even the least bit mysterious. If she didn't know better she'd assume that it was just a large shoebox. However, Urahara had given it to her and she hadn't gotten to know him well enough to trust him yet. Granted, getting to know Urahara didn't necessarily mean that one would come to trust him but since her friends vouched for him she disregarded her own minor misgivings, this time.

"So I only have to put them on while doing my regular training? She asked the man in question.

The sandal-wearing shop-keep nodded. "Exactly, the more you use them in conjuncture with your normal exercise the more they'll draw out your spiritual energy in a way that'll make the process feel natural while at the same time speeding up your progress. The goal is to ease you into it until you can do it under your own power."

There was an enthusiasm in his voice that reminded Tatsuki of a manga villain. She just smiled and nodded stiffly.

"So why do I have to go home before I use these? Can't I start training here?"

"Sorry Arisawa-san. But we're going to be doing some dangerous training here." In that instant he pulled Tatsuki to his side so that she wouldn't be hit by Chad as he flew by and was followed by an exuberant Mashiro. "And by dangerous I mean that people around here don't really look where they running. You're not quite at the level where you can train unhindered while in the same area as these loonatics." He explained to Tatsuki, whose eyes had grown to saucer-size as she watched rocks explode when the vizard duked it out with her tall friend.

Urahara led her over to the entrance that she and her friends had come in from earlier. Yoruichi stood lazily beside it. Tatsuki felt a little hurt that she didn't get a big send-off like Orihime and Uryu.

"_Then again, I'm not about to enter another dimension filled with monsters._" She reminded herself.

"Right then, Yoruichi-san will follow you home today. Just in case, you know." Tatsuki nodded and turned to her new substitute teacher. Except that she wasn't there anymore. Her clothes were lying in a pile on the ground and a black cat was crawling out of it.

"Ready to go?" The cat asked with a dark male voice.

Tatsuki blinked. "Yeah. Sure." She hadn't entirely gotten used to weird things yet.

The karate practitioner walked up to the hole and then stopped to glance back at Urahara. "Hey, hat and clogs." Urahara titled his head to the side. "Thanks. Make sure to whip Ichigo into shape. I don't want him to hold me back."

Urahara chuckled and gave her thumbs up. "Will do." With that he watched the odd sight of a tiny black cat dragging a teenage girl through a hole in a mountain-like wall. He then turned around to check up on the strawberry haired teen.

When most shinigami activated their bankai it was in a way that reflected their personality as warriors as well as the awesome power they were unleashing upon their foe. Some did it with a single elegant and calm utterance that displayed the grace and skill which they displayed in their roles as captains. Others did it with a roar, as if they attempted to properly verbalise the immense force that they wielded. Those were the two most common ways of doing it but there were other variations, all of them with their own flair and stylishness that showcased the wielder's battle prowess in a spectacular fashion.

One would most certainly not just wave ones' zanpakuto around like a sugar-high toddler does with its rattle while shouting at it to transform into its bankai form. That would just be undignified and silly.

"Bankai. Bankai! I said bankai damnit! Turn into your bankai form you stupid-ass sword!"

"It's a zanpakuto. Not a sword" Shinji deadpanned to the increasingly undignified and silly-looking Ichigo as he angrily waved his weapon around in the air.

"Same difference!" The human-shinigami-vizard yelled back with his eyes enlarged by frustration.

"So he really can't get it to work then?" Urahara said with a repressed chuckle.

"Nope. He's been waving it around and shouting uselessly for a few minutes now." Shinji said with the hint of a smirk on his face.

"I see. So what should we do to help him? I guess I could throw together some enhancements. But it wouldn't last very long." A tiny snort escaped from the shop-keep's mouth.

"Maybe some exercise and herbal tea will fix things." Shinji continued only to get punched in the face by Ichigo.

"Stop talking like that." The teen growled.

Urahara chuckled. "Sorry Kurosaki-san. But seriously, you can't activate your bankai?"

"Nope." Ichigo confirmed. "Besides that I feel as strong as I was five months ago."

"Well that alone is nothing short of a miracle. From what your father has told me your powers should've disappeared completely after you used the final getsuga tenshou. I guess your speedy growth rate helped you recover so quickly. Or maybe it has something to do with your vizard abilities."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I don't really care about that. If something big really is going down around here I want to be able to access my full power. But for some reason I can't."

"Maybe you just haven't recovered enough. It'll probably come with some time." Shinji suggested.

Ichigo's expression grew serious. "I doubt that's the case. There's something I haven't told you guys."

Urahara and Shinji leaned in a little as though Ichigo was going to whisper something you them.

"When I sleep I dream of turning into a hollow and killing everybody I know before going to destroy Karakura town. And during those dreams I can feel how my inner hollow is thrashing about. He wants out."

Urahara's eyes showed a mix of concern and scientific curiosity. "Has this affected your vizard form in any way?"

"I think so. It still gives me an added amount of strength and power but I don't think that the effect is as big as before." The two men turned their attention to Shinji, who probably knew the most about vizards between the three of them.

"It certainly sounds like the hollow within you is up to something. But we've never had this kind of problem so I can't guarantee anything. But yeah, my guess is that he would be the cause for any power problem you're having." Shinji analysed.

"In short," Urahara followed up. "The best thing for you would be to jump in there and face him again."

Ichigo sighed. "That's what I was worried about. So should I get right to it or what?"

Urahara and Shinji thought about it for a few moments.

"Give me a few days first Kurosaki-san." Urahara finally said. "Based on what Ishida-san and Inoue-chan told me about your latest hollow form it would be best to get some preparations done before we deal with this problem."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah, I'm not exactly hot on the idea of having to fight with some sort of supped-up version of the last hollow form I saw you take on. At least, not without reinforcements and a plan. We don't want to make your dreams come true now, do we?" He was joking but Ichigo looked down at his sword hesitantly.

"Hey, don't get cold feet now." Shinji admonished. "It's better to deal with it as quickly than to let it fester and screw us over later."

"Fine." Ichigo agreed. "What should I do until then?"

"Just train like normally. If there's an attack then be a bit more careful than you normally would. Don't try to arouse the suspicions of the grim reaper. Be on a lookout for anymore critters. And mentally prepare yourself for a fight against your inner hollow." Urahara quickly counted up.

Shinji stretched as a small hill in the background was shattered from being hit by one of Mashiro's enthusiastic attack. "Right. If we're done here I'll go tell the others to get ready for today's training."

As Shinji walked away Urahara turned to Ichigo with a large smile on his face. "Oh and there's one more thing you should do Kurosaki-san."

He paused dramatically and made sure that he had Ichigo's full attention.

"Make sure to enjoy every second that you get to see Yoruichi in her teaching outfit."

Ichigo grumbled about stupid shop-keeps as he slouched after Shinji.

* * *

Harribel raised her head again and locked eyes with Orihime, who was staring in bewilderment at the polite greeting she'd received. "Is something wrong Inoue-san?" Harribel asked with her usual calm demeanour. "I do apologise for the brusque treatment earlier. There was no time for pleasantries in the heat of battle."

"No. Nonono. That's ok Harribel-san. I was the one who butted in and…"

"Hime-san!" The piercing shout was followed by a tiny blur smashing into Orihime with a bone-crushing embrace. Orihime gasped as she was lifted into the air and spun around vigorously. The healer stared down at the small arrancar that had caught her in a vice-grip. It was a familiar face.

"Lilynette! Please! I'm happy to see you too. But…!" Harribel stepped forward and stopped the smaller arrancar, who let go of Orihime.

"Manners, girl. You should treat Inoue-san with more care, decorum and resp..."

"Orihime!" Another blur, taller than the last one, speed past Harribel and Lilynette, knocking them to the side, and smashing into the strawberry haired girl.

Uryu felt very uncomfortable as he couldn't help but stare as a very 'mature' woman with green hair affectionately and unwittingly squeezed the air out of Orihime with a super-strong hug. It reminded him of a small child loving their latest stuffed animal a little too much.

"I missed you Orihime! I hope that things are good with you! How's Ichigo! How long will you stay? How… Ow! Harribel, let go! I didn't… OW!" Frustrated by the lack of proper behaviour from her fellows Harribel had thrown pretence to the wind and just pulled Neliel away from Orihime by the hair.

The healer backed away from the three female arrancars, busy catching her breath after two consecutive hug-attacks. Uryu walked up beside her and talked with a low voice. "You seem quite popular today."

Orihime forced out a nervous laugh as she observed Harribel reprimand the two other arrancar women for their behaviour. Like the dark beauty, they had also gathered new outfits.

Lilynette was wearing a tight, short-sleeved white top and equally tight and white shorts. Together they gave her a rather long midriff. She'd kept her combat boots. Her most noticeable new clothing article was the ankle-long grey cloak with tattered ends. It was pretty thick and big enough to cover her arms when it just hanged low. All in all, the short girl had some resemblance to a comic book super hero.

Neliel on the other hand almost seemed to have modelled her outfit after that of a shinigami captain, or at least tried to. She wore a grey kimono with thin sleeves that seemed to be just a bit too short. Covering her was a white coat with black lining. The coat was rather wide and Neliel left the front completely open. If it was for the green sash tied around her waist, onto which her sword was attached, it would flutter all over the place at the slightest hint of a wind. The green haired beauty had been much more modest with her feet, only putting on a pair of comfortable looking white sandals.

If the two would be allowed to stand confidently and proudly before her Orihime bet that they would both look as impressive as Harribel did, probably less so in Lilynette's case. But currently they were both rather pathetically hanging their heads in shame as Harribel chewed them out. Orihime felt sort of guilty and stepped up in an attempt to aid the two.

"Eh, Harribel-san." The three arrancar turned to the human girl. "It's ok they were just being nice and I don't mind the roughness. Really." Harribel narrowed her eyes and shifted from Orihime to the other arrancar, who were both smiling widely.

"I don't know." The blonde said with a low and intimidating voice.

"Come on Harribel." A drowsy and slightly bored voice said. "There's no need to be so harsh. It's too exhausting."

The group turned to the direction the voice was coming from. Coyote Starrk lazily strode up to them looking as unwilling to be awake as always. He too had altered from his attire, though not as drastically. He had simply replaced his previous jacket with a white, buttoned shirt and a long grey coat with three tails.

"Is Grimmjow coming out?" Harribel asked her recently arrived compatriot. Starrk shook his head half-heartedly as he passed the blonde and walked up to Orihime.

"Hello, Inoue-san." The brown haired man said and shook Orihime's hand. "It's nice to see you again. What brings you to our dark little corner of the universe?" It seemed as though whatever Orihime's answer would be it was more interesting and important than their own petty squabble because all three female arrancar all looked at her with interested eyes.

"Eh…" Orihime had quite a lot of things that she wanted to bring up with the arrancar and she wasn't sure where to start. That they were all focusing intently on her didn't make things better. She was actually beginning to panic a bit so she looked back at Uryu for support.

He only smiled and nodded to her. In short he was no help at all. At least not practically.

The healer took a deep breath and then spoke with a clear and, hopefully, non-anxious voice. "I am here for a number of reasons actually. First of all I wanted to check up on what you were doing." At this declaration Uryu noticed how a few of the arrancar seemed disappointed.

"_I guess that they had hoped for more trust._" The quincy reasoned and mentally prepared himself for combat should things take a turn for the worst.

"Secondly, I hope that that we could begin discussing a formal and official peace agreement between yourselves and the human world." Starrk and Harribel nodded impassively. Neliel smiled friendly. Lilynette still looked completely disappointed.

"As a part of that I was hoping that you could provide us with some information." Orihime's voice began to falter at the increasingly harsh eyes.

"And," The strawberry haired girl lowered her look and lost all her pretended professionalism. "I was worried about you and I was afraid that something bad had happened."

Silence spread among the group as the healer's word sank into the arrancar. Then Lilynette's sniffling drew everybody's attention. "I knew that she cared. Didn't I tell you that she cared!" She proudly yelled at the others.

"Yes you did." Starrk said and cast an analysing gaze at Orihime. "_It does seem like she's different from Aizen._"

"Of course I care!" Orihime interjected. "I brought you back to life. You're my responsibility."

Neliel giggled. "In a way it's like you're our mother." At this Orihime blushed brightly and could only speak with a horrible stammer to the point where most of what she was saying stopped being actual words. The green-haired arrancar just giggled even more at this and went over to Orihime.

Neliel affectionately put her arm across Orihime's shoulder and pulled her in. The healer's stammering stopped but she didn't get any less nervous, despite this new sign of fondness. Starrk and Harribel's impassive looks were still fairly nerve-wrecking.

"I'm just joking with you Orihime-chan." Neliel joked and lightly pinched the healer's cheek. "We wouldn't put…" A large and loud cloud of smoke suddenly exploded from where Neliel was standing. When it blew away the busty women by Orihime's side had been replaced by a tiny child hanging from the teen's shoulder.

The white coat, green sash and sword had fallen off the child's small body and the kimono was loosely sticking to her. Despite this massive change in appearance Neliel, now Nel, smiled and continued as if nothing had happened. "…that kind of reschponschibility on you."

Orihime and Uryu blinked several times upon this new development and then turned to the other arrancar. "Does that happen often?" Uryu questioned.

"Yep." Starrk answered simply.

"She's getting better at keeping it from happening." Harribel added.

"Stop hogging Hime-san!" Lilynette shouted and ran up to the healer to hug her waist.

"Well," Uryu said and walked up next to Orihime, ignoring her confused and pleading expression. "If you've all finished getting reacquainted I do believe that we have quite a lot to talk about. How about we do so in your impressive fortress?"

Harribel observed the quincy silently for a few moments. "Yes. There is a lot to discuss. But it will have to happen out in the open." Uryu and Orihime's surprised expressions asked their question for them. "The arrancar inside Las Dias aren't entirely prepared for outsiders to enter. We'd like to ease you into their lives as slowly as possible." The quincy and the healer nodded understandingly.

"Well then." Harribel said with a rare hint of enthusiasm. "Let us begin."

As the group began their discussion there was an arrancar masked by shadows hiding behind one of the ten pillars observing them. Her eyes focused intently on Orihime and a sharp growl of frustration escaped her throat. She retreated into the fortress with various thoughts about the strawberry-haired girl swirling through her head.

* * *

_Strike her down._

Michael blinked. He suddenly had an urge to attack the shinigami in front of him. It seemed like a thoroughly ill-conceived idea as it could not only potentially trigger a huge conflict between the shinigami and the grim reapers but also endanger his pending promotion.

So he pushed it back. "I'm sorry. What was it you said?" He asked Rukia shortly.

"I just wondered where you've been lieutenant Graystone. We were worried that something had happened to you after the gillian-attack." Rukia repeated politely with a concerned tone.

Michael's face scrunched up as he tried to remember what had happened. "Sorry but my memory is foggy. I must've been more injured that I thought I was. I woke up in my bed today so I guess that I passed out once I reached home."

"Oh dear, well come with me and I'll take you to Orihime. She'll be able to heal you." Rukia said before realising that Orihime wasn't exactly available at the moment. She tried to keep a straight face while coming up with an excuse in case the red-headed reaper accepted the offer.

_Deception. It's a trap._

Michael on the other hand was just struck by the paranoid thought that Rukia was trying to trick him somehow. Lying also seemed more reasonable than it should.

"That's ok. The medic that we brought with us has already given me a full check up and healed me." He frowned after the lied had been spoken, mainly because he actually would've liked it if Lucy would visit him.

"I see." Rukia said with a relieved sigh. "So you're feeling ok now?" Michael nodded stiffly without taking his eyes off of her. Rukia smiled and then recalled their first meeting. "Ehm, with that settled would you mind telling me if you ever got in contact with your superiors about whether I should stay here or not?"

Michael thought back and remembered that she had indeed been cleared to stay put with the explanation that it was just easier that way.

_Deceive her. It's only right._

"You are to return to your division and stay there." Michael harshly answered.

Rukia's smiled faltered and her disappointment was obvious. "Oh. I understand." She recovered quickly and put up a professional front. "Would it be ok to inform my friends about this?"

_She wants to plot against you. Deny and counter-strike!_

"No it would not. Because it's taken this long to inform you, you are to return right this instant. You might very well be punished for your inability to comply." Michael's voice was darker and edgier than he knew he could make it.

The shinigami's shock was instantaneous and she wasn't shy about expressing it. "What! But I didn't know about… You didn't tell me and…" Painful memories of the last time she'd been sentenced to be punished still burned brightly. They made the situation seem far worse than it actually was.

Michael's expression mellowed somewhat as he observed Rukia's reaction. He felt a short pang of guilt at the desperation in her eyes and wanted to reach out and tell her truth.

_Further deception. She intends to use your weakness against you. You must strike before she does._

Suspicions arouse in Michael's mind, suspicions that didn't entirely make sense to him from a logical standpoint. Then again, he didn't know how the shinigami worked and _this one in particular he couldn't trust._

The grim reaper's silence wasn't helping Rukia's mounting desperation. "Lieutenant Graystone, isn't there anything you could do. Maybe you could come with me and explain the situation."

"_She is close with the anomaly and thereby close to the vizard. She is not trustworthy. I can't turn my back to her. Maybe it would be best to lure her to Soul Society and apprehend her there._"

_Too risky! Strike her down!_

An internal battle ranged between Michael's aggressive subconscious and his common sense. It made it rather difficult to focus on Rukia and what she was saying. It also made his face twitch unnaturally as it switched between confused, angered and pained.

_Strike her down!_

It caught Rukia's attention and she momentarily forgot her possible punishment as she became worried about the grim reaper's strange behaviour. "Lieutenant Graystone. Is something wrong?"

Michael began breathing heavily as he glared at Rukia, unable to decide whether she was an enemy or not. The answer would seem obvious only to radically change seconds later. His thoughts swirled around like a tornado until one of them roared over the others.

_STRIKE! HER! DOWN!_

Michael took a deep breath and steadied himself. He gazed sternly at Rukia and then nodded calmly. "Sure, I'll come with you. This whole thing has been a terrible ordeal and we wouldn't want to make it worse." He said with a fairly pleasing voice. "If you would be so kind to open up a gate to Soul Society so that we can get this done with quickly."

"Ok." Rukia said hesitantly unsure of what was going on in Michael's mind. But since she didn't want any more trouble she pulled out her zanpakuto and turned away from the red-head to open up the senkaimon. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement and brought her zanpakuto up in the nick of time.

A heavy blow from Michael's scythe sent Rukia flying off the roof and into the air where she skidded to a halt. A rapid cold sweat spread across her body as she realised that she would've been cut in half if that attack had hit her.

Back on the roof Michael had produced a dirt brown ball of energy in his left hand. It suddenly exploded in a burst of light. The grim reaper blurred up to Rukia's level. The shinigami raised her sword in a defensive position as she saw the way he glared at her. She also noticed that thin black circles had appeared around his eyes making it look as though he hadn't slept for several days.

"I've just covered a rather large area with a barrier. Even if you somehow make me go all out we won't be noticed." He didn't seem to be taking any pleasure in the situation.

Rukia's mind raced. Although she hadn't know the man for any significant amount of time Rukia was fairly certain that he wasn't the kind of person that would assault her for no specific reason. His behaviour as a whole during this short meeting was by all accounts odd.

"_Something happened to him during those days he was missing._" Her expression turned grim. "_I do believe that I've discovered what the hollow critters are capable of. Just have to survive this long enough to inform the others._"

Her determined eyes met with Michael's glare. "I'm not sure how much of you still is in there lieutenant Graystone. I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I'm about to do and that I swear I'll free you from whatever it is that's controlling you."

Michael exhaled dismissively. "I have no idea what you're talking about." A dark-orange coloured aura flared up around the grim reaper. "I just know that your time is at and end, shinigami."

* * *

**Ok that's one down. If everything goes according to plan then there should be one up tomorrow as well. Until then.**


	10. The Arctic Blaze Battle

**YES! I got this out before new years, at least in Sweden. I've had this fight scene in my head for quite some time and I'm happy that I got pretty much all of the big moments I'd envisioned into it. I hope you'll all enjoy it.**

* * *

If you were a normal human walking the streets of the Karakura town's south district at the moment you'd most likely become quite worried at what was currently going on. Powerful but momentary gusts of wind would knock down pedestrians. Gashes appeared on buildings for seemingly no reason. And strange shockwaves caused tiny amounts of damage. Even if you had been spiritually aware you would've had trouble seeing anything but two blurs zipping around in the air. There's only one thing you'd be certain of and that was that going inside was a really good idea.

It would certainly make Rukia's end of her fight with Michael easier. For the last few minutes she'd been on the defensive and held back on using anything but common sword techniques. A tactic that was proving to be quite hazardous as the grim reaper possessed greater strength that sent his diminutive opponent reeling with each blow.

But the shinigami had found solution for the difference in striking power. Instead of trying to directly match Michael blow per blow Rukia would use her zanpakuto to divert the attack by hitting the red-head's scythe from a specific angle. While it was quite a successful strategy there was a major drawback to it.

"_Come on people, please get in to your homes!_" Rukia yelled in her head as she backed up after barely managing to deflect an attack aimed at her neck. "_I don't know how long I can keep this up._"

It was proving to be quite exhausting and Michael was steadily adapting and coming closer to scoring a fatal blow. "_Damn it! He's just got better swordsmanship than I do. How are the streets?_" Rukia glanced down and to her delight found that people had followed their instincts to clear away.

"_Excellent._" She swiftly jumped forward, struck the incoming scythe-attack and quickly counter-attacked. Michael leaned back, avoiding the slash completely, and leapt back to shortly regroup. That short interval was all Rukia needed.

"Mae. Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia's katana shifted into a beautiful white sword with a long white ribbon attached to the pommel. A tiny trail of snowlike sparkles appeared and a cold rush of air blew in all directions as the zanpakuto transformed into its shikai state. Rukia lifted her weapon up to her shoulder and aimed it at the grim reaper who just glared in return.

"You brought this on yourself little shinigami." Michael firmly pointed the scythe to the side while holding it in his right hand. Rukia's body tensed. She was well aware of what he was talking about.

"Sear. Dragontooth." Fire grew out of Michael's hand and climbed up the scythe until the flames completely covered it. Once the weapon was no longer visible the fire twisted into a sword-like shape. The blaze dissipated to reveal a broadsword with a dark red blade. The handle was spiral-shaped and coloured black as coal. The golden guard was formed like a dragon's head with tiny rubies for eyes. It was a fierce-looking weapon.

Rukia's eyes narrowed as she guessed her opponent's abilities. "So it's a battle of the elements then."

Michael's head tilted to the side. "Sure. Why not." He said with a dull voice. He grabbed the handle with both hands and a fire erupted from the blade.

Rukia punctured the air in front of her four times and took a stance as ice-particles began flowing from the punctures. "Tsugi no mai! Hakuren!" A massive wave of white ice blasted from Rukia's shikai at the grim reaper.

Michael responded with his own attack at the same time. "Scorching barrage!" The grim reaper swung his sword sideways, thus launching three large fireballs in Rukia's direction.

Within seconds the elemental-based blasts collided in the air. The ensuing explosion was felt by almost all within the barrier that Michael had set up. But only one person could see and react to it.

* * *

_**5 minutes earlier…**_

A gaping maw opened up between the apartment door and the railing in front of it. Moments later Inoue Orihime's head poked out to make sure that there was nobody there to see her step out of thin air.

"The coast is clear." She daintily stepped out of the portal and turned around to bow at her 'chauffeur'. "Thank you Starrk-san." The healer said politely.

Starrk dismissively waved at her. "It was nothing and better than to waste those emergency things. Remember, you're welcome back anytime you want. Bye for now Inoue-san." The portal shut itself as Starrk turned around.

Orihime wave him goodbye and then turned around to enter her apartment. At the same instant an explosion was heard and it was followed by a shockwave that shook the buildings and sent her hair flapping around.

With her disarrayed hair in her eyes Orihime leaned on the railing by her door to see where the assault had come from. When that failed she tried to sense who was fighting. To her surprise that failed as well.

In desperation the still oh so human girl looked back and forth, turned around in random directions and fidgeted with her hands, unable to decide what she should do. As more explosions were heard Orihime fiercely shook her head, jumped across the railing and launched herself into the air like a horribly nervous girl pretending to be a superhero.

* * *

A cloud of steaming mist separated them and obscured both enough to appear as dark silhouettes to their opponent. But that didn't stop either of them.

Shinigami and grim reaper leaped into the steam-cloud, swinging their swords at each other. A clang resounded from the impact, the force of which blew away all the steam. As the white and red blades pushed against each other a small trail of vapour grew from them.

With an extra push Michael sent the shinigami flying back. Rukia was however prepared for this and quickly raised her left palm in her opponent's direction. "Sokatsui!" She shouted and fired a blue ball of fire at the reaper.

The red head quickly blurred away from the attack, making it destroy the edge of a building instead. He appeared next to Rukia and swung his sword at her mid-section while declaring his next attack.

"Burning Wing!" A vaguely wing-shaped flame was discharged from the red sword. It would've burned Rukia severely had she blocked the attack or jumped back. Luckily she opted instead to fly up into the air, avoiding the attack entirely.

It was for naught though. "Emerald Lightning Knife!" Michael pointed his pointer and index-finger upward and fired a pencil-thick turquoise beam at the shinigami. Rukia twisted in mid-air to dodge the beam but it cut her across her left arm.

"Crap." The black haired fighter said through gritted teeth as she tried to cover the wound, losing her focus as she did so.

"Burning Wing!" Another fire wing was launched upward. Rukia reacted quickly enough to jump back but the fire still caught her feet and burned away most of her shoes. She ignored the pain and was therefore able to follow the grim reaper as he jumped into her field of vision.

Pointing the tip of her shikai at her opponent Rukia called out an attack before he could strike again. "Shirafune!" The blade of Sode no Shirayuki was covered with ice which extended rapidly and almost skewered Michael's gut. But he managed to side-step the attack so it only cut up his jacket, leaving a faint trail of frost.

Michael counter-attacked with a sweeping attack aimed at Rukia's head. She blocked it and managed to withstand the blunt force. The two fighters locked eyes and blurred out of sight. Several times they appeared, clashed with their swords, disappeared and repeated the process with incredible speed. They travelled from the air above the city rooftops to the streets below and covered every altitude in-between.

The high-speed exchange ended when Michael called out an attack as they reappeared.

"Burning Wing!" Rukia quickly jump above the horizontal swing to avoid the flames. But they never came. Using the shinigami's momentary confusion Michael appeared before her and attacked with a downward slash. It was then that Rukia saw where the fire had gone to.

The blade of Michael's zanpakuto was burning. "_He kept the fire inside his blade._" Rukia was able to block the strike but with the added force of the special attack it easily sent her flying into the roof of a building below.

Her entire body ached and she needed a moment to get her bearings straightened out. Luckily Michael opted to speak rather than to attack at that moment.

"Your file has you listed as a non-seated officer. But your skills are on par with a lieutenant. So I guess that you believed yourself to be my equal due to my own rank." Rukia just looked up defiantly at the grim reaper. She didn't want to admit that he was right.

"Well, let me put it like this. You're not the only one whose power stands above their rank." He pointed Dragontooth at Rukia. "Dragon's Breath!" A large stream of fire blasted out of the red blade, it moved at an alarming speed. Normally Rukia would've been able to dodge it without much trouble but she was still dazed and needed to get back up on her feet.

The fire was almost upon her and Rukia brazed for the impact when suddenly a golden light covered her field of vision and stopped the flames with ease.

Shinigami and grim reaper looked to the side where a panting Orihime was standing in mid-air with her arms pointed out in front of her. When Michael's attack ended Santen Kesshun split up into three sprites that took their places on the healer's hair clip.

"Phew, I made it." She happily said to herself. Then she felt an arm wrapped itself around her waist and pull away from where she was standing. Which was lucky since Michael appeared directly after, slashing at that the exact spot.

"I assume that things went well on your end." Rukia said loudly while flying as fast as she could.

"Yes." Orihime responded. "We can talk about that later."

"Sounds good to me." Rukia looked back where Michael was steadily following the duo and readying another attack.

"Scorching Barrage!" Rukia knew that she could avoid the attack but doing so would cause grievous collateral damage to the buildings around her.

"Orihime!" The shinigami commanded and the teen in her arms understood.

"Santen Kesshun. I reject!" The fireballs slammed into the triangular shield and exploded, creating a large smoke-cloud.

Rukia halted and let go of Orihime. "Do you remember what we trained these last few weeks?" Orihime nodded. "We're going to do that."

Orihime's eyes went wide with shock. "Are you sure about that Kuchiki-san? I mean, we haven't really tested it yet."

"Consider this the field test then. I have faith in you Orihime." With that Rukia leapt above the shield and into the smoke-cloud. She quickly found her adversary and the two locked swords again, the force behind the clashed dispersed the cloud.

Rukia attacked with a downward slash but it was easily blocked. Michael used his zanpakuto to shove Rukia's aside and at the same aimed a kick at her chest. Rukia deflected the attack with her own kick and then quickly swung her sword at Michael's mid-section. The reaper leapt back to avoid the attack and the rebounded back in the air, aiming to pierce Rukia's head.

Before he could do that however a tiny light zipped past him and stinged his left cheek. Confused by the unexpected attack he didn't see Rukia quickly move in and slash him across the chest.

The red-head gasped in shock as he backed up. Rukia however wasn't about to let him escape and followed up her attack with another. Ignoring the pain and the feeling of blood Michael lifted his zanpakuto to launch his own attack. But once again he was disturbed by the zipping light as it stung his forehead this time. Rukia's slash struck home again. Michael fell a bit through the air while gritting his teeth in pain.

The shinigami pursued with the intention of knocking her opponent out with the next attack. Michael pointed his sword at her and opened his mouth as if he was going to command an attack. Out of the corner of her eye Rukia could see the distracting light approaching Michael at high speed and she fully trusted it to hit its mark.

Unfortunately Michael suddenly twisted around in the air and slapped his bright attacker out of the air. The black haired shinigami cringed as Tsubaki, Orihime's only battle-able sprite, was sent tumbling out of the air. Then she panicked because Michael had disappeared from her eye-sight.

It didn't take long for him to reappear. "Burning Wing!" This time Rukia was completely unable to dodge the fire. It engulfed her completely and she could barely keep herself conscious and much less stay up in the air. She could only just hold on to Sode no Shirayuki and meet Michael's emotionless face. With their positions reversed Michael launched another attack.

"Scorching Barrage!" The now familiar trio of fireballs approached at a rapid speed but Rukia would hit the street below before they'd hit her. And yet she did not despair. She had a friend nearby and Rukia fully trusted the girl to save her.

The trust was not unfounded as Orihime managed to catch the falling shinigami just in the nick of time. Though since Orihime herself isn't a paragon of physical strength the catch resulted in her painfully hitting the street instead.

"Owww." The teen mumbled when she realised that they weren't out of danger just yet. "Santen Kesshun. I reject!" She screamed and held up her right arm. The golden shield once again proved strong enough to win out against the grim reaper's flames.

So yeah, Rukia was right in trusting that her friend would save her from the fall and the attack. It was the matter of dealing with Michael's follow-up attack that would be a problem. However, the follow-up attack would be delayed as Michael was busy debating with… himself he guessed.

"_Things are getting out of hand._" Michael growled in his head.

_Wits end. Escalate and finish it._

"_The city…_"

_Worth less than nothing._ _Escalate._

Michael saw how the golden shield flickered out of existence beneath the smoke. He decided to end it with one blow before resorting to more drastic measures. So he blasted off towards the two girls with his sword ready for a powerful final blow.

_Escalate__._

He entered the smoke and saw the outline of his targets along with a faint glow. He disregarded the latter as an attack he'd be too fast to counter with his current speed.

_Escalate!_

Michael exited the smoke and saw the two standing in a shining light-blue circle. Only concerned with ending the battle he attacked them with a powerful slash that cut up the concrete even though it didn't touch it. But he'd underestimated the girls' reflexes because Rukia managed to dash away from the attack, while pulling Orihime with her, and utter a single command.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

In the same instant that Michael entered the circle and the girls left it a pillar of light extended to sky, freezing everything within it. Including Michael, who was left with one word echoing in his mind.

_ESCALATE!_

Rukia and Orihime tumbled on the ground after their speedy escape. The shinigami was hurt and tired but mostly glad that the ordeal was over now.

"Rest up Kuchiki-san. I'll heal you Soten Kisshun. I reject." Orihime's golden canopy covered Rukia and began healing her of the burn wounds she'd sustained. "Why were the two of you fighting?" Orihime asked innocently.

"I'm not sure but my theory is that lieutenant Graystone has become a victim of the hollow critters that Urahara-san spoke of. After you heal me the best thing for us to do would be to get out of this barrier and…" She was cut short when loud but muffled voice echoed from the ice-pillar.

"Solvo Finalis!"

The pillar exploded outward as a massive burst of fire destroyed it and created a powerful gust of wind blew all the steam and nearby dirt and nearly topple Orihime over. As the fire died down Rukia had a clear view of their now freed opponent.

Michael was no longer in his fashionable suit nor was he carrying his red broadsword. Instead he was wearing a heavy-looking armour that was coloured dark red. It resembled that of a medieval knight with a dragon motif seen in the scale-like way the armour's chest plate was segmented, the way the helmet was loosely shaped like a dragon's head and in how the gauntlets and greaves resembled claws. The mouth-guard, which had a gold-coloured fire pattern on it, covered most of Michael's face. Leaving his increasingly dark eyes as the sole part of his face that could be seen by outsiders.

"Skin of the Knight Dragon." He said with a dark voice, clenched his fists and fire surrounded them.

Even though Rukia couldn't sense his reiatsu she quickly realised what it was that she was starring at. "_This is his bankai. He actually has a bankai. We need to retreat._"

"Orihime, let me out!" The healer looked shocked at the demand but there was no time for explanations. "Just do it!" As ordered Orihime deactivated her power and Rukia, who'd had most of her injuries healed, quickly stood up and attacked.

"Tsugi no mai. Hakuren!" She poured as much reiatsu as she could spare into the blast making it about twice ad big as usual. It quickly reached and covered Michael in a block of ice.

He burned his way through it almost instantly.

"That was your best shot. Now it's my turn. Dragon's Storm!" He pulled back his right arm, cupped the hand and thrust the arm forward, unleashing a stream of fire that covered the entire street.

"Santen Kesshun. I reject!" Orihime ran up before Rukia place an enlarged version of her shield between them and the flames. Once again it stopped the fire but that wasn't the end of it. This time the fire kept on pushing against the shield with an incredible force. Orihime actually got pushed down to her knees just trying to keep the shield up. Unfortunately it was starting to crack and tiny flames were pushing through.

"_Please, please, stay together. Please._" It seemed as though Orihime's pleading worked because the pressure suddenly stopped. She dared to peek up at scene.

"Incinerating Crash!" Michael slammed into the shield with his left fist enveloped in a massive fireball. Orihime's Santen Kesshun was instantly destroyed and she would've been turned to ashes by the following explosion if not for the timely kido-shield Rukia managed bring up in front of her friend. The kido was destroyed as well but it managed to stop the fire from reaching the two girls. Orihime still fell down, frozen from the scare, and Michael approached the girl with a killing intent clearly radiating from him.

Rukia appeared between the two, swinging her sword at Michael's chest. The red head simply smashed through the top of Sode no Shirayuki with a backhanded strike. Seemingly prepared for this development Rukia swept the air in front of her with her left hand and called out a kido spell. "Kyokko!" From Michael's perspective it seemed like Rukia and Orihime were wiped out from existence and there was only an empty street in front of him. He destroyed the illusion with a strike that punched a big hole through the street but the two of them had disappeared.

A ferocious fire exuded from the armour and Michael slowly rose into the air.

In a dark alley Orihime and Rukia were hiding within the shadows, both of them breathing heavily and pressing themselves tightly against the wall.

"What can we do Kuchiki-san? How do we beat him?" Orihime looked over at Rukia who just stared at her broken sword with grim determination. "Kuchiki-san?"

"SHINIGAMI!" Michael's voice reverberated within the narrow alley. "You and your little friend have five minutes to appear before me. If you fail to do so I will burn this entire city to the ground."

Rukia took a few deep breaths. She figured that he wouldn't be able to get the entire city without any of her friends noticing it. But the people in their direct vicinity would still fall victim to the fire. She wouldn't let that happen.

"Orihime," Due to the seriousness of her tone Orihime felt compelled to focus entirely on her friend. "You're not a trained warrior so you don't know our options as well as I do. We can either show ourselves to him and run, hoping that we'll be able to get out of the barrier and alert somebody so that they can come and help us before he kills us." She paused and locked eyes with Orihime. "Or we can try to defeat him. Which would you choose?"

Orihime answered cautiously. "Do we actually have a chance at beating him?"

"I think so." Rukia said sincerely and gazed down at her sword. "I know that I have one more trick I'd like to try. But I need your abilities to get through it. So what do you say?"

During this little conversation Michael had been building up an impressive amount of fire between his hands. The blast from it would most likely be able to destroy several city blocks instantly and several more would fall in the ensuing fire.

"_Is this right?_" Michael asked himself as he stared into the ever-increasing fire.

_Right is a pointless abstract._

Before he could continue Rukia and Orihime appeared several meters in front of Michael. Both of them were clearly tired and, in Rukia's case, injured. The strawberry haired teen stepped back as if to give Rukia some room.

The shinigami held out her broken zanpakuto in front of her and turned it upside down, much like whenever she activated her shikai. She sighed. "I was hoping that I could practice a little more with this before this sort of situation happened."

Michael's eyes narrowed. "You end is nigh shinigami. Do you have any last words?"

Rukia nodded. "Just one."

She took a deep breath and a brilliant white light surrounded her.

"BANKAI!"

* * *

**Hah! How's that for a cliffhanger. Thank you all for this year. Hopefully I'll see you all in the next one! :)**


	11. Storming the burning fields

__

**Hi. I'm terribly sorry about the long delay, especially after leaving it on a cliffhanger and all that. But simple fact is that life surprised me somewhat with a lot. Latest thing is that I'm surprisingly moving soon. And the annoying thing was that I couldn't get into the editing option for my stories. Horribly annoying. Anyway, here's the new chapter, hopefully it will make up for some of the wait.**

* * *

**Three months ago…**

"You want to grow stronger you say?" Urahara asked with a raised eyebrow. "How so? I've heard that you were the first of us to actually defeat an espada." There was no pride in Rukia's voice as she answered.

"It was more of a stalemate really. Had nii-sama and Hanatarou not appeared when they did I would've died for certain." She steeled her eyes, discarding any self-doubt. "To protect my friends I need to be stronger than that and for that I now turn to you Urahara-san."

The shop-keep stroked his chin, pondering while doing so. "Yeah, I can help you. Just let me ask you this. How far are you willing to push yourself to get stronger?"

Rukia unflinchingly met the older shinigami's gaze and answered with a very composed voice. "As there is no larger threat in lurking in the shadows at the moment I'm not going to give up my social life or anything like that. But I am ready to work myself to exhaustion if that's what you'll ask of me. I trust that you know what you're doing."

Urahara chuckled. "That's a nice answer Kuchiki-san and a bit more thought out than I expected." He stood up. "Come on down to the training grounds. I have some special training that I think you'll like."

"Oh," Rukia said, failing to hide her own curiosity. "And what kind of training would that be?"

The older shinigami glanced back at Rukia. "Have you ever considered bankai?"

* * *

For three months Rukia trained intensely to increase her reiatsu levels to a stage when Urahara deemed her ready for training with the tenshintai. With the explanation that she'd gone back to Soul Society for a squad debriefing, Kuchiki Rukia secretly went through Urahara Kisuke's special bankai training. Rukia wanted to keep her training hidden as she felt a bit unworthy of attempting to reach the higher level of shinigami combat.

But eventually Rukia accomplished her goal. While she's trained to master her bankai there hasn't been any opportune moment to use it.

Until now.

* * *

**Present…**

The ribbon on Sode no Shirayuki's hilt extended to great lengths as it wrapped itself around Rukia. Just as it was about to tighten around her the ribbon shined with a blinding white light and exploded into a large mass of crystal-like snow. A howling wind started blowing all over the area, spreading the snow every which way. As the snow dispersed Rukia was revealed to have changed outfits.

Instead of her black kimono the shinigami was now wearing a white furisode kimono with a blue sash tied around her waist with an elegant bow at her back. Her sleeves were wide and almost too long for Rukia and the bottom part covered her feet.

The blade of her shikai had repaired itself and was now almost entirely transparent, like snow covered ice. The blade had also grown slightly longer than before while the ribbon had disappeared completely. A cool wind blew through the air.

Rukia stared intently into Michael's eyes as she spoke.

"Sode no Shirayukiarashi." She shifted her hand so that her zanpakuto was now pointed at the grim reaper. "This is my bankai. You've forced me to this."

Orihime gazed at Rukia with wide eyes. "_This is Kuchiki-san's bankai? …it's beautiful._"

Michael seemed less amazed. "Am I supposed to be frightened?" He asked with an almost affronted voice. "You do a carnival trick and put on some expensive clothes and think that you can fool me into believing that you've honestly unlocked the final form of your soul slayer?" The fire in his hands intensified as he grew angrier. "If you are attempting to deceive me I suggest at least bringing out something bigger than a pretty little sword."

Rukia smirked as she raised the blade above her head. "The zanpakuto in my hand is but the smallest part of my bankai. Its main body is the storm around us." Michael's eyes widened as he realised that the wind had steadily been growing into a snowstorm.

The grim reaper quickly thrust his hands forward, launching the large fireball at Rukia and Orihime. "Cremate!" He roared. Rukia narrowed her eyes and aimed her zanpakuto at her opponent. She twisted it around and called out to the winds.

"Some no Arashi: Rasenkanpuu!" The snowstorm responded and twisted itself into a spiralling vortex that crashed into the fireball with great force. The freezing snow put out much on the fire and the wind scattered a large share of it into the air. But still a small but potent remainder of Michael's attack pushed through only to slam against a golden shield.

Orihime's head hurt from blocking the attack, but she persevered. Rukia counted on her to.

Raging flames spewed out of the reaper's gauntlets as he charged his foes. But Rukia was one step ahead of him.

"San no Arashi: Keizen Fubuki!" Suddenly large, shimmering snow crystals materialised around them and without a moment's notice they blasted off in Michael's direction. At first he managed to avoid some and destroy other with sweeping strikes. A steam cloud was being built up around him, blocking his field of vision and leaving him open for a strike from behind.

Had he been a normal foe his upper back would've been frozen as he was knocked out of the air and at the least being partly incapacitated. However, since he was covered by heated armour the icy strike didn't even do even half the supposed damage and it was instantly melting away.

But Rukia was prepared for this turn of events. Once a successful hit hand landed she increased the intensity of the assault. Within moments Michael was being pelted from every side at once. The fierceness of the attack sent the grim reaper plummeting to the ground. Even at this development the shinigami didn't ease the barrage.

As he rapidly descended towards the ground Michael could feel how he was being covered by a hardening snow faster than his armour would melt it off. Between the indignance of the treatment and the pain inducing screaming in his head the red head felt himself pushed to a brink.

Nothing else mattered as long as he could get some peace.

"!" A sphere of fire exploded outwards from his body. It instantly vaporised the rest of Rukia's attack and the heat it generated could be felt all the way down on the street. The shinigami's and healer's hair was blown back by the pure force of Michael's reiatsu.

The fire twisted itself into large sphere surrounding and protecting the grim reaper and then he charged at the girls.

Rukia blurred away as fast as she could, pulling Orihime along with her, while continuing her barrage, increasing its intensity so much that a chilling gale followed in its wake.

The grim reaper crashed straight into the assault and at first he was slowed down and pushed back. However, with a mighty roar he burned through the snow, ice and wind and continued giving chase after his two opponents.

Rukia's eyes narrowed and she blurred away with Orihime again, she wanted as much distance between them and the furious grim reaper as possible. Michael followed after, never stopping his charge but without increasing his speed.

"_Interesting,_" Rukia commented in her head. "_His destructive power is truly immense and he seems to have a matching stamina as well. But it appears to be affecting his speed. I must test this._"

She stood still in the air. A light hand resting on Orihime's shoulder as a way of letting the healer know that everything was all right. The dark haired shinigami had her eyes locked on Michael as he rocketed towards them. It felt as though the heat alone would burn them beyond recognition had it not been for the soothing cool air of Rukia's bankai.

Once Michael was so close that the fires almost touch the two ladies Rukia blurred high into the air along with Orihime. She looked down at Michael who took a sharp turn to follow them. As she'd guessed Michael was unable to keep up with her.

"_He must be pouring so much power into that attack that he can't follow more advanced shunpo movement. We can do this._"

Once they where at a safe distance she glanced at Orihime. The strawberry haired girl was shivering and her eyes were as big as plates. The power of two bankai along with Michael's raging killing intent was taking its toll on her.

For a moment Rukia considered telling Orihime to just run as the situation was about to get a lot tougher. But she just couldn't bring herself to it. Rukia knew how aggravating it was to be left on the sideline while others fought for their life. Also, Orihime would be fairly integral for Rukia's plan to work.

"Orihime," Rukia commanding yet kind voice snapped Orihime's attention into place. "I have a plan that could give us the victory. But there's a great risk to it and I'll need your help. Please, remain calm and I promise that we'll get out of this together."

Orihime nodded as the cold air that was centred around Rukia's blade began felt gentle her skin. The girls shared an assuring smile and Rukia explained her plan.

Although Michael couldn't feel the wind and snow from inside his orb of fire he noticed that the tips of his flames shifted minuscule. The red head narrowed his eyes and saw how all the snow and frost in the air was rapidly moving towards the short shinigami's blade. She herself was standing behind the human girl who stood perfectly still with her eyes closed and head tipped down. A faint golden glow surrounded her body.

_Amateur trap._

The burning warrior agreed. He knew enough about both girls' capabilities to easily deduce their intended ploy. If he'd been himself a counter-strategy would've been formulated and executed. However, his thoughts were as chaotic as the inferno surrounding so his main strategy remained on the same level as a bull's.

Rush in and kill them.

He closed in on them and he was about to incinerate them when Orihime's eyes snapped open, revealing a fierce expression as she shouted at the gigantic fireball heading her way.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!"

As usual the three sprites split from Orihime's hairpins to form her protective barrier, but this time something was different about them. They were shining so brightly that they looked three fist sized light bulbs before they joined together.

The triangular shield equalled Michael's fire in sheer size and looked unusually solid and nearly impregnable.

And it was… for about three seconds.

After that the force of Michael's attack caused cracks to appear all over the shield at an increasingly rapid rate. Just trying to hold the thing together was tough enough. Doing it while ignoring the pain that was wrecking havoc with Orihime's senses felt like an impossible task.

Intense heat slipped through the cracks in the shield and caused blisters to appear on her hands. It felt as though her entire body was assaulted by violent strikes from all sides. Blood began dripping out of her nose and it became difficult for her to not kneel down in front of the superior power.

Behind her Rukia was standing still with Sode no Shirayukiarashi held out in front of her. The blade was glowing dimly white, frost and winds seemed to get sucked into it. The shinigami grimly stared at her friend's back. "_Just a few more seconds Orihime. Hold out just a little longer._" As if on cue the wind stopped and an icy steam rose up from the blade.

Not wasting a second Rukia blurred away. At the same instant Orihime's shield exploded into hundreds of pieces, the force of it knocking the healer back. The next instant her field of vision was covered in flames rushing towards her. For a moment death seemed certain and Orihime tightly shut her eyes in preparation.

"Shirokiba!"

At the sound of Rukia's voice Orihime opened up her eyes just in time to see a flood of shining ice and snow avalanche over the fire, smothering it. The two elemental masses cancelled each other out as the snow melted and the fire fizzled out. The strawberry haired teen looked up and saw Rukia standing high up in the air with her zanpakuto pointed downward and snow pouring out of it.

The two locked eyes and nodded. It wasn't over.

Michael appeared behind Rukia and stabbed her in the back with a clawed gauntlet. "Stupid shiniga…" The insult was left unfinished as Rukia cracked and exploded into a tiny but potent tornado that caught the grim reaper inside of it.

As he was being thrown around Michael's frustration levels was raising along with his reiatsu output. He quickly reached a level when he would just have to wave his arm around to disperse the trap. But he never got that chance.

"Hado #32: Okasen!" A wide arc of yellow energy pierced the chaotic winds and slammed into Michael's chest sending him flying back until he crashed into the streets below.

Rukia quickly leaped down to Orihime to offer her some support as the healer was losing her footing due to exhaustion. Together the two friends made their way to a nearby rooftop.

"Are you ok Orihime?" Rukia asked with an exasperated voice to which she received a nod and smile. "Good. You were excellent by the way. That was probably the single-most impressive feat I've seen you pull off." She thought for a moment. "Well, second most impressive feat I should say."

"You were amazing as well Kuchiki-san. Do you think that he's defeated now?" Rukia slowly shook her head.

"He is on par with a captain and an attack like that will only delay him. The time he will need to recover is time we can use to set up a trap. Or rather, I will set up the trap. You will…" A hard fist struck the side of Rukia's head and sent her skidding across the roof. She managed to flip back onto her feet as she reached the edge. Just in time for Michael's follow-up punch to send her crashing into an alley across the street.

The grim reaper ignored Orihime, who just stared horrified at him as she sank to her knees, and leapt of the building, leaving the shaking strawberry haired girl behind.

Rukia forced herself up with one hand tightly gripping her zanpakuto on instinct and gently rubbing her head with the other. "_Damn it. He recovered faster than I expected. Orihime! I need to_…" She turned around to see Michael flying at her, ready to strike. The dark haired shinigami bent backwards to avoid the attack that sailed over her. "_Never mind. I'll have to do this the old fashioned way then._"

White energy surrounded Rukia's blade and the air around turned into frost. She leapt at her opponent swinging her sword down at him. Michael raised his left arm, blocking the icy blade with his fiery gauntlet. Fire and ice blasted outward as they clashed for dominance.

Michael pushed Rukia back and struck at her head with his right hand. She dodged and ran underneath it, ignoring her hair being burned. Before the red head could respond appropriately Rukia slashed at his chest while sending an arc of white energy from her zanpakuto at him. Instantly he was covered in white ice and almost equally instantly Michael burned through it and smashed the place Rukia had been when she attacked.

But she was already at the other end of the alley with her zanpakuto pulled back yet pointing at her adversary. "Tsugi no Arashi: Touuhaku!" She thrust the weapon forward as Michael rushed at her. A heavy wind hit Michael in the face. It was so cold that frost rapidly appeared on his armour and so strong that he was being pushed back despite his best efforts.

Once again his anger and frustrations proved to be a saving grace as they fuelled the armour's flames which burned through the building ice and became so powerful that they actually started swallowing the winds Rukia was hitting him with.

With a monstrous roar the grim reaper launched fire bullet with such speed that Rukia just barely managed to cover herself with a hastily formed ice shield. It managed to dampen the attack but the shockwave still knocked Rukia out cold.

With heavy steps Michael walked up to the unconscious body. He looked at it for a moment as he almost began thinking how wrong it was. That thought was quickly silenced. He raised his fist and brought it down with enough force to destroy the street only for it to bounce off a golden shield that appeared above the shinigami.

Michael sighed and turned around to face the annoying human only to walk into _a wall formed by a golden canopy_. At the other end of the alley Orihime was standing with a determined expression and her arms stretched out in front of her.

"You should leave now, human." Michael sneered.

Orihime willed herself not to lose eye contact with the very powerful man that could turn her to ask in seconds. She hoped that her fake tough-gal face was convincing enough as she activated her insane and untested scheme. "Soten Kisshun, I reject."

A force unlike any other washed over Michael. It didn't sting, burn, cut, shock, hit or hurt him in the slightest bit. At first he thought that it didn't do anything at all. Then it suddenly dawned on him. His fires were fizzling out and somehow it felt like his armour was getting thinner.

"Human! What do you think you're doing!" The grim reaper tried to shock the strawberry haired healer with burst of reiatsu. In response Orihime's face grew more focused and the mysterious force increased its power, essentially smothering the red head's reiatsu output into nothingness.

Michael angrily threw a punch to shatter the golden wall producing the force. But as his fist reached the affronting wall his armour started breaking a part, starting with the gauntlet.

Bewildered by the development Michael looked over his armour. It was splitting a part. Starting with tiny chinks and growing into large chunks that burst into spirit particles, some of which seemed to be rearranging themselves into his broadsword.

Tired from the headache and rage and the constant screaming in his head Michael could only stare dumbfounded at the petit girl that was regressing his most powerful weapon with apparent impunity. It was quite awe-inspiring.

Then, after Michael's entire armour had been washed away, Orihime collapsed and the canopy the separated them broke into a million tiny sparkles.

Michael stared at the girl where she laid on the ground, panting heavily and shaking as though she was feeling an unnatural cold. She looked so harmless and yet he'd seen her perform a display of power unlike any other.

_Menace! __Liberate us from her presence!_

Michael blinked. The girl and her powers were a threat. She is allied with the anomaly. Her power could pose a threat to everything he knew one day. She needed to be dealt with.

He raised his sword and stepped forward with his eyes completely focused on Orihime. A clean swipe to take off her head was all that was needed. He tried to convince himself that he would be a hero as the sweat poured down his face.

Then everything went cold.

Trapped inside a brilliantly white block of ice that erupted from the ground, Michael became frozen solid inside a veritable sculpture of a giant ice-slab. A thin snowtrail led from the ice-covered grim reaper to where Rukia had stabbed her zanpakuto into the ground.

The diminutive shinigami sluggishly rose up as her bankai melted away. She used her arm to support herself against the alley wall while she stumbled past the giant ice block. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see how the blade of the red head's sword was glowing lightly inside the cold prison.

"_There's still power in him even now. I'd be impressed but we need to get out of here._"

Things seemed to go by in a blur after that. Rukia picked up Orihime and started running away as fast as she could. She didn't know how far she'd gotten when she fainted.

* * *

_He found the solid winter surrounding him a blessed opportunity._

_The grim one could longer fight. Not with strength or with spirit. It was all static._

_Victorious eyes mocked the thrashing fire. It was helpless in his threads._

_Subjugation of this personal realm would now be the easiest of tasks. But there was something stowed in the furthest recesses. Gazing as far as possible led to an interesting unearthing._

_There was a metal gate in the grim one's depths. A gate of great fortitude. A gate that guarded clandestine matters. It would be shattered gleefully._

* * *

"…and then Ichigo battled captain Kuchiki on top of Sogyokou hill. The reverberations of that duel could be felt all across the Seireitei. After a long and fierce battle Ichigo stood victorious thanks to his newly acquired bankai."

"That's… what you call the final form of your soul slayers, right?" Lucy interrupted, causing Hanatarou to loose focus.

"Ehm, yeah… that's right." The longnamed shinigami scratched his head. "…where was I?" Hanatarou asked sheepishly.

"Epic battle on a hill. Your weird human friend had just defeated another captain." Lucy reminded him with a blank voice while she surveyed her guide's room.

It was tiny and modest, much like Hanatarou himself. A small shelf filled with various medical books and a single alarm clock took up most of the right side while the left was dominated by the neat futon Lucy was currently sitting on. Stuck to the wall above the futon there was a poster with the phrase 'Shoot for 6th seat' printed on it. Lucy had to keep herself from laughing at how silly cute she found it.

An excited voice told her that Hanatarou had found the place in his story again but she really didn't care all that much. She knew that she was being rude but she honestly preferred to just look around the room and figure out the answers to questions she was too shy to ask.

The green haired grim reaper had been spending a lot of time with her fellow medic and recently her frequent visits had more to do with social interaction rather than anything work-related. Although, captain Hawkins had asked her to find out whatever it was that Hanatarou knew about the Aizen-incidents since he had forgotten.

Terrified of what the gray haired captain might do to her if she declined Lucy instantly agreed. Of course she didn't know how easy it was to get the timid healer to spit out everything he knew. It seemed like he had this wonderful story to tell but nobody that wanted to listen, or at least pretend to. Until now that is.

Lucy had nothing against pretending to be an attentive audience but she's just didn't care much for action filled stories. She did make sure to remember a few important things about Hanatarou's actions, out of fear that captain Hawkins would punish her if she didn't. All in all however, she found the Hanatarou's inner sanctum a most enjoyable distraction.

"_I bet most people don't think a lot about you._" Lucy thought as she directed her attention to Hanatarou again. "_You are pretty easy to forget if one doesn't hang out with you regularly after all. But you've been through quite much during these incidents. And you've made my stay here more bearable than I ever thought possible. Who knows how this would turn out if things were different?_"

Lucy smiled at Hanatarou and was about to lie about how interesting his story had been when she glanced out the room's only window and noticed how dark it had gotten and what time it was.

"Oh, crap." She moaned loudly as she practically jumped back up to her feet.

"What? What's wrong?" Hanatarou asked, the panic in his voice very obvious.

"I have to get back to the others." Lucy said hurriedly while rushing out of the room, Hanatarou following her. "Captain Erasmus is really strict about these things."

"Oh, ok." Hanatarou found the explanation likely. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sure, no question about it." Lucy stopped as she reached the fourth division's main entrance. Taking a deep breath she decided to be just a teeny bit bold and turned around to face her guide.

"How about we do something different tomorrow? You know, instead of just hanging out here." Lucy asked, her hands behind her back and her eyes unable to stay focused on one single point.

Hanatarou looked confused, as if not understanding what else there was to do. "Ok… what would that be?"

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she laughed nervously. "_You don't get out much do you? Crap, do I really have to say it?_" She pondered for a few seconds, carefully phrasing the answer in her head. "Well, we could go for a walk or something. I haven't seen most of this place after all and you're my guide and all so…" She left the sentenced unfinished and hope that her face wasn't too red.

Luckily Hanatarou seemed to have caught on. "Oh, sure. We can do that. Yeah, I can show you around and other things."

"Excellent!" Lucy squeeked. "See you tomorrow then." She ran off at a blistering speed with a style similar to a marathon runner which later on turned into a happy skip.

As the realisation of that he might actually be going on a date for the first time in his life was settling in Hanatarou dreamily wandered back towards his room. Halfway there he accidentally walked into the 4th divisions lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu.

"Ahh! Sorry lieutenant Kotetsu. I was just… I was walking and I don't know what… I…"

Isane casually waved her hand at him. "That's ok Hanatarou, nothing bad happened and I was actually looking for you."

"Oh, what for?" The shorter medic asked.

"Well, since you've been so busy interacting with a certain grim reaper," She stifled a kind laugh as the black haired shinigami in front of her blushed. "I wanted to remind you that it's your turn to clean the sewers tomorrow." She continued with a friendly voice.

"Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me, lieutenant. I'd forgotten all about…" His face took on a horrified expression as he remembered his other commitment for the following day.

Isane blinked. "Is something wrong Hanatarou?"

"_Very much so!_" The short young man screamed in his head. "_I can't take Lucy on a tour of the sewers! She can't see me do something so demeaning!_"

"Hanatarou?" Isane repeated, making Hanatarou jump as he thought up a solution to his situation.

"Lieutenant Kotetsu! I need to ask you for a favour." He practically screamed.

"Ok. What can I do for you?" Isane asked and as Hanatarou explained the situation he hoped that Lucy wouldn't mind the activity he was setting her up for.

* * *

**There we go. From action-packed drama to something more mundane. I rather like that contrast. Please review to tell me what you think. The more reviews I get the quicker I'll get out the next chapter. Until the.**


	12. Meetings

**Weird as it may sound this chapter is a bit rushed. I'm going on trip soon and I just wanted to get this up before then so I haven't done a real edit yet. But it should be readable, and hopefully enjoyable. I will certainly do a little update on the chapter when I get back home.**

* * *

A whistling tune travelled into the impromptu dining room that the grim reapers had set up. It was a jaunty melody that was filled with happiness at the possibilities of a new day. With the right kind of instruments it could probably be interpreted as energetic ballroom dance music.

Evadne hoped that she was allowed to jam her stupid chopsticks that made no sense into the throat of whoever was responsible for torturing her eardrums with cheerfulness when she was frustrated and sleep-deprived, going to bed angry wasn't a good idea.

When Lucy entered with a smile on her face Evadne glared at her aggravating wooden eating utensils and snapped them in half.

"What're you so happy about?" Beileag yawned while distractedly putting butter on a carrot. She'd been busy rebuilding the part of the fourth division barracks that she'd destroyed and it was taking longer than expected. Probably because Beileag was kind of crappy at constructional labour and Richard denied her any help. To her credit however the redhead wasn't complaining in the least. She just faced the unfair task with steady determination.

"I've got a…" Lucy halted herself from declaring that she had a date when she remembered that the room was still filled with at least three people that would probably frown upon any closer interactions with their hosts. "…aehum, an important meeting with one of the medic shinigami." She lied horribly. Luckily Evadne and Nicodéme, who was busy looking through some papers, didn't care enough to notice and Beileag barely had the concentration required to put the coffee beans she believed to be jam on her breadless cheese.

The one that worried Lucy most however was sitting with his back to her. Richard had most likely heard the lie and seen through it. But for some reason he wasn't reacting to it. That made the green haired medic wary of even entering the room.

As she considered just running away to her meeting a little earlier than planned Richard abruptly leaned back so far in his chair that he stared at her with an upside down smile, pieces of an omelette sticking to his cheeks.

"Morning little Lucy! Come on in and have some breakfast." Despite his jolly and welcoming attitude Lucy made herself as tiny as possible while still standing upright.

"I'd rather…" She futilely tried.

"I insist." Richard quickly countered with a kind voice. Lucy shivered as a dark image flashed before her eyes.

"We've got a great selection between the Japanese food the shinigami provided to us and all the traditional European breakfast items we brought." The grey haired captain continued. "Now sit and eat." He kicked out a chair for her to sit on. "You're gonna need it for your big meeting."

Reluctantly Lucy sat down next to her superior with Beileag hazily joining in on the medic's left side.

"Ok then, everybody's here now." Richard said happily. "Lucy's going to a meeting and my dear vice-captain is continuing her experimental career as a carpenter. Me, I'm going to try to fit in three different divisions today. What about you two?" He asked Evadne, now shamelessly scarfing down rice with a spoon, and Nicodéme, who answered with a dignified voice.

"We shall begin the work of cross-referencing the results of your interviews with the actual reports that were made in regards to the incident." Richard smiled broadly at the lieutenant.

"We sure are lucky to have you with us to keep this whole thing properly organised, lieutenant Lumiére. I can't help but wonder how captain Kneller is doing without you."

Nicodéme shuddered and looked down at his plate gloomily. "I rather we not discuss that. It'd be bad for my nerves." Richard let out a singular loud laugh but left it at that and just resumed to expertly pick up nori with his chopsticks.

Lucy quietly took a very small portion of broiled fish and nervously ate it, afraid that the third division captain would suddenly call her on her date. She ignored any attempts at conversation, not that there were all that many, and finished her breakfast a little too quickly.

"Well, that's it I gotta run now." She squeeked and stood up. To her everlasting horror so did Richard.

"I'm finished too." He still had half a plate left. "Three portions are enough for me." He smiled down at the medic. "Walk with me 4th seat Fairchild." He said kindly while putting a hand on her shoulder. Lucy would rather have a bear-trap close on her. "Make sure that my idiot gets to her job." Richard told Evadne, now glaring at the Japanese food while chewing on some toast, and Nicodéme before leading Lucy out of the room.

"You're so tense, you know that right?" Richard asked conversationally.

"Mhm." Lucy stiffly muttered as they walked out of the third division. To her great relief that's when Richard let go. Unfortunately before she could sprint off Richard bent down so their faces were on the same level, forcing the medic to lock eyes with him.

"Now, I'm gonna make something very clear for you." Lucy's paranoia wasn't needed to make Richard appear terrifying despite the kind smile. "Getting closer to the shinigami is completely ok with me. I think that our two branches have been too hostile against each other for too long. But I would keep it a secret if I were you. Other people might not approve." He jerked his head at the barracks they'd exited. "Just make sure that you do your duty and everything will be fine. Got it?"

"Yes captain sir." Lucy said with a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

"Good. See you later then." And like that Richard strode away while whistling the same happy tune that Lucy had been making earlier.

The green haired girl stood in place and shivered for several minutes. Being so close to the third division captain was always a nerve-wrecking experience. Eventually she remembered that she was supposed to be somewhere and hurried away, forcing thoughts captain Hawkins out of her mind.

She slowed down when she was near the fourth division and did her best to straighten out her hair before walking up as elegantly as possible to her date. To her disappointment however Hanatarou wasn't waiting outside his division's main entrance. Instead she came face to face with the fourth division captain, Unohana Retsu, and an extraordinarily tall young woman with light gray hair.

"Good morning Fairchild-san." Unohana greeted her with a wave and a smile. "This is my lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane."

"Good morning." Isane said with a kind voice. Though Lucy could notice a tiny note of apprehension.

"_I guess that they're still not used to us._" The grim reaper figured before returning the salutation. "Morning. Ehm, have either of you seen Hanatarou? We're supposed to… ehm… meet."

"I'm sorry Fairchild-san." Unohana said apologetically. "7th seat Yamada is pre-occupied with an assignment that could be considered his specialty."

"_That's one way of putting it._" Isane thought while imagining Hanatarou toiling away in Soul Society's sewers.

The disappointment made Lucy's face sink a few notches. "Oh." Was all that she could say while thinking about how crappy her morning was turning out to be.

"He asked me and Isane to apologise on his behalf and to invite you to a certain meeting." Unohana continued, undeterred by Lucy's sullen expression.

"Meeting? What kind of meeting?" Lucy asked, mildly interested. She just wanted to try to salvage what was looking to be a failure of a day.

Unohana smiled pleasantly. "Walk with us would you, Fairchild-san." The medic captain took the lead with the lieutenant and grim reaper following her, allowing Lucy to really appreciate how very tall Isane was compared to her own stupidly short stature. Unbeknownst to Lucy, Isane was similarly cursing how freakishly tall she was.

Neither woman voiced these concerns so Unohana could speak up without interruptions. "Now then Fairchild-san. Let me tell you about the Shinigami Women's Association."

* * *

Staring out into a dark, gray and, most importantly, endless desert for hours on end would be considered horribly boring and mind-numbing by most normal people. For Coyote Starrk however it was a perfect time for experimentation.

The experiment being to see how far into unconsciousness he could slip while still standing and without Lilinette, who was chattering away beside him, noticing. So far it was going pretty well.

Yes, trying to sleep while on guard duty isn't exactly the most responsible thing to do. But Starrk is the former primera espada, capable of battling multiple shinigami captains at once. Even though he is basically sleeping his finely honed senses would alert him of any approaching presence and his near instantaneous reflexes would allow him to meet it properly.

"You're sleeping on the job, aren't you?" Harribel asked with a harsh and disappointed voice as she appeared beside him.

"Huh?" Starrk muttered with a low voice. He then let out a howling scream of pain as Lilinette sent a sharp kick into his crotch.

"Lazy bastard! You haven't heard a single word I've said!" The tiny girl arrancar yelled while stomping the ceiling they were standing on in frustration.

"Actually," Starrk grunted. "I heard the first one and a half sentence and then it got too boring to listen to." Lilinette once again kicked her other half's groin. This time he fell down writhing in pain.

Harribel ignored her comrade's predicament. "Lilinette, I have some important issues to discuss with Starrk in private. In the meanwhile I want you to go do a routine check-up on the guards."

Lilinette's face beamed at the prospect of responsibility as it meant that she was trusted. So without further ado she jumped away to carry out her task not knowing that Harribel had already done it minutes earlier.

"Stop being so pathetic and get up." The dark-skinned arrancar said without sparing Starrk a single look.

"A little sympathy would be nice once in a while you know. Might make you somewhat less frightening." Starrk said as he begrudgingly stood up.

"Me being frightening is what's keeping this place from falling into chaos." Harribel countered. "If the others didn't fear me, and you for some reason, they would've rebelled after they saw us being friendly with Inoue-sama."

Starrk glanced sceptically at her. "You sure? They didn't seem that upset to me."

Harribel met his gaze with fierce eyes that were enhanced by her frightening mask. "You don't take the time nor make the effort to listen to them. Apache, Mila-rose and Sun-sun have informed me that there's talk of us consorting with the enemy."

"I thought that we told them about what Orihime-san did for us and of Aizen's betrayal."

"We did but our word isn't enough apparently." Harribel was clearly insulted by the lack of trust but Starrk decided not to push the subject any further, allowing Harribel to continue on her own. "Basically there seems to be three different opinions in our ranks. Some have taken the Aizen's treachery as a sign that we can't trust anybody from outside our own kind and that we're weak for taking a liking to Inoue-sama. Then there are those that don't quite believe that Aizen would betray us and suspect that we're just trying to cover up our own failure to protect him."

"So why are they staying?" Starrk asked plainly.

Harribel scoffed. "Fear of death, obviously." Starrk nodded in understanding. The desert of Hueco Mundo wasn't a terribly safe place for arrancar right now.

"And the last faction?"

"They believe our story but they're wary of any interaction with non-arrancars. Especially Inoue-sama."

Starrk sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's understandable. To hear that there's a being with true power of life and death isn't exactly the most comforting news."

They stood in silence for a few moments and pondered, for possibly the thousandth time since it'd happened, what Orihime had done for them and what it meant.

Harribel broke the silence. "The point is that we are disorganised and unless we can do something about that I'm not sure that there's future for us in the long-term perspective. For now the weaker arrancar will follow us, even cheer us on in battle. But unless we can create a more concrete organisation they'll eventually turn on us in belief that they could do a better job."

Starrk nodded. "So you think that we should take the offer that Orihime-san gave us?"

"I believe that it would be beneficial to have allies in the human world. I also believe that it would be easier to convince the others of this than if we were talking about the shinigami. The problem is that we would need a solid reason for any kind peace treaty to be accepted by the majority of arrancars."

"Well, Orihime-san and the quincy did have suspicions about the threat they're facing being related to the constant attacks we have to endure." Starrk suggested with a half-distant voice.

"Right. But without any further evidence I doubt that anybody would be inclined to believe us. We need an investigative group that can brings us what we need." The dark skinned arrancar stated matter of factly.

Starrk yawned. "Can we afford the man power needed for such a group?"

"No." Harribel grunted. "And it would be best if it was carried out by somebody from outside us espada. There's a greater chance that they'll believe us then. Which is really…"

"Frustrating?" Starrk finished.

Harribel sighed, clearly annoyed. "I miss the days when idle threats, a solid rank and maybe a rise in reiatsu were enough to get everybody in line."

"Wouldn't know anything about that." Starrk replied lazily and then he narrowed his eyes. A large mass of shadows were approaching in the distance. "Today's struggle is approaching so we'll have to continue this conversation at a different time. Always a pleasure Harribel."

"Something like that." Harribel blurred away as Starrk leaped off the Las Dias' roof, getting ready to battle the oncoming hostile hollows.

Unknown to either of them a third presence had been listening in on the conversation. Hidden away under a cloak that masked reiatsu, one of the few remains from Las Noches, she had skulked in the shadows, a practice that she was getting good at. She had heard everything and once the two former espada parted a course of action had revealed itself to her. She blurred away to begin preparing her task. One did not enter the human world without preparation.

* * *

"Nice office you have here captain Kuchiki. Much neater than some of your comrades." Richard said jovially to the stone faced captain, whom had greeted him but remained silent afterwards.

Richard made a note of it as he pulled up a seat for himself.

"So, you ready to answer some of my questions then?" Richard asked.

"Yes. You may proceed with your interview." Whatever Byakuya was feeling about the situation he was hiding it expertly. Richard preferred this over the ones that had implied threats on his person.

"Right then. Let's start with you recounting the events in your own words. I hear that you were especially close to it all due to your relation with one Rukia Kuchiki."

"If you wish to phrase it that way." Byakuya answered stoically as was his nature.

"And how would you phrase it then?" Richard asked sincerely.

"I acted out of responsibility due to Kuchiki Rukia's connection to my clan. Whatever relationship I have personally to her was of no consequence for my actions during the events that you are referring to."

"So you were only acting out of duty for your clan?" The gray haired reaper hid his sceptisim well.

"Correct." Byakuya answered.

"Well, then. With that perspective in mind I'm certain that your story will be very interesting."

Though Byakuya's story was technically longer than most of the other people that Richard had interviewed so far it didn't take all too long for the sixth division captain to tell it. The reason being that he anticipated any and all questions that Richard might ask and at the same time he described the events very clearly.

Smiling friendly all the time Richard wondered if Byakuya didn't just want him away from his office.

Within little over half an hour Byakuya had finished his tale. "I trust that is everything you need to know."

Richard nodded. "Pretty much, at least on an informative level. I still have a few questions regarding yourself."

"Oh." Byakuya said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes. My superiors felt it important that I take note of the shinigami captains personal view on matters along with their own retelling of events. So if you don't mind, please tell me what you could've done differently."

Byakuya stared a Richard for a minute. "I could've made some further investigation into the matter, though I doubt that would've changed much as Aizen's deception was far reaching and well done. The same is probable for a situation where I would've acted I Kuchiki Rukia's defense. The events that transpired already happened. Dwelling on what could've happened or been done is pointless."

"Oh, you think so." Richard said, his smile slightly broader than usual.

"I do. What other questions do you have to ask?"

Richard tilted his head a few millimetres to the right, smiling broadly. "What's your opinion regarding the human, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo is a bothersome boy that doesn't know his rightful place. But he does have his uses." The black haired shinigami answered bluntly.

Richard nodded. "Do you feel that there's any rush for the central 46 to be replaced?"

"Tradition dictates that they are needed to govern our operations." Byakuya answered curtly.

Richard gazed briefly into the shinigami's eyes. "I see." He said with a slightly smaller smile. "Who do you consider to be the best candidate for head captain?"

"Unohana Retsu, Shunsui Kyoraku and Ukitake Juushiro are all suitable candidates. Of them I would consider captain Unohana the most fitting due to her experience and skill."

While Richard had been courteous enough to not press the other answers, despite them kinda obviously being only halves of full answers, this time he couldn't resist. "Are there any other reasons why captain Shunsui and captain Ukitake wouldn't fit the bill, so to speak?"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes yet again. "Captain Shunsui is too frivolous and captain Ukitake's has health issues that would not be desired in a head captain. I am not aware of what process you grim reapers have but Captain Yamamoto set a high standard for us shinigami and we do not wish to just blunder into the decision."

Neither said anything after that for a few minutes. Byakuya's stoic expression just met with Richard's smiley face. Then Richard stood up.

"Thank you for your co-operation captain Kuchiki. I believe that I have everything I need from you right now." He said perfectly naturally, though Byakuya noted that the grim reaper's movements were a bit stiff.

"It is my duty." The shinigami captain said with a voice that clearly held a silent 'Get out of my office now' behind it.

"See you around." Richard walked out of the office without the slightest bit of indication that he'd been anger or that he'd lost some kind of contest. In short, Richard was good at hiding his feelings.

* * *

Lucy felt very intimidated where she was sitting right now. It wasn't because she was sitting next to Unohana, she'd gotten kind used to the medic captain's strange aura of motherly friendliness and paralysing intimidation. It was basically everybody else around her.

This Shinigami Women's Association thing was apparently just an excuse for all the highly positioned female shinigami to meet and chatter. At least that's what it looked like to Lucy who normally could barely gather up the courage to speak with any officers outside her own division that were ranked above her. So sitting in on a meeting with several women ranked higher than her in a foreign area was proving rather taxing for her nerves. Adding to that there were quite a few that cast short glances her direction every now and then. It wasn't all that welcoming.

"_Well, I guess I'd be a bit suspicious if the positions were reversed. At least these two aren't doing it._" She glanced at Unohana on her right and then at a woman with black, braided hair and a blank expression. Neither was speaking or giving her odd looks so at least in her near vicinity she wasn't being ostracised. The only other reason she wasn't leaving this ill-planned thing was because she was genuinely interested in who the chair-woman of this group was.

As far as Lucy could tell both the two female shinigami captains were present and seated along with the other regular members. So whoever the chair-woman was she had to be a fierce person. Lucy was imagining flaming hair and three demonic eyes. Lucy's imagination tended to go overboard. So naturally she was mind-boggled when what appeared to be a six year old little girl with pink hair appeared at the head seat and declared the meeting open.

As quietly as possible Lucy turned to Unohana and whispered. "Ehm, Unohana-san is…?"

"Yes, that is the chairwoman of this group." Unohana quickly responded cheerfully.

"…ok." Lucy just stared at the little girl, who was now busy showing off rocks she thought looked like the shinigami captains' faces. At least there was a bespectacled woman reading through a protocol of their previous meeting, the interruptions from the chairwoman didn't seem to bother her very much.

Still trying to wrap her head around the situation Lucy nearly fell out of her seat when the pink-haired girl suddenly yelled out. "CANDY!"

The entire room went quiet and stared at the chairwoman.

"I smell candy." She yelled as an explanation and then she jumped on to the table they were sitting at.

Lucy stared bewildered as the chairwoman franticly crawled around on the table while sniffing the air like some kind of tracking dog. Too late did the sole grim reaper in the room realise that the strange little girl was moving towards her.

When the two came face to face everybody else stared at them but Lucy's frightened eyes were only focused on the terrifyingly hungry ones in front of her.

"Do you have candy?" The saliva-dripping girl asked energetically.

Not daring to do anything else Lucy slowly picked out a candy-bar wrapped in red. It was her favourite snack from back home and she had planned to share it with Hanatarou today but considering the direction things were going in that was unlikely to happen.

Lucy moved the candy bar around a little and the chairwoman's eyes followed it like a predator on the prowl stalking its prey. And continuing the animal metaphor the little girl's arm struck out like viper and ceased the candy bar so fast that Lucy didn't see it happening. And before Lucy could protest the kid had run back to her seat where she proceeded to eat her stolen snack chipmunk-style.

"Ehh… wha… but… what…" Lucy mumbled with her mouth hanging open.

As the day was still just starting this and it so far was turning out to be crap this might've been the last drop that would send her to her room where she would cry about how this place is horrible. Seconds before that happened however a gentle hand touched her shoulder.

"Sorry about Fairchild-san." Unohana said with a voice that was so full of motherly caring that Lucy found herself mellowing down. "Yachiru is a nice girl but still so very immature… and energetic. We've all gotten used to it and it's easy to forget what an experience it can be to first meet her."

"Tell me about it." Said a woman with strawberry blonde hair and bobs that looked like they were as big as Lucy's head. "The first time I met Yachiru she wouldn't stop poking me with a stick to see if I had ballons stuffed in my clothes."

"She won't stop offering up my seat as vice-chairwoman to other members of this group." The glasses-wearing woman said while glaring down at the snacking little girl.

"It took me ages to get her to stop calling me giant tree person." Isane recalled with a dejected expression.

And suddenly everybody shared short stories about how they'd been annoyed by Yachiru and Lucy felt a little more like part of the group.

When things calmed down Unohana turned to the grim reaper again. "There you see Fairchild-san. While we dearly love Yachiru, she does bring an unique and lively energy to the place, she can be very…"

"What ya talking about?" Yachiru asked loudly as she popped up from her seat, her smile covered with crumbs from her stolen snack.

"The policies regarding interaction between cross-continental branches of Soul Society." Unohana answered without missing a beat.

"Boring!" With that Yachiru disappeared from sight again.

"Say," A bubbly voice said from behind Lucy and someone pulled on her arm. The green haired reaper turned her head and found big bob lady there. "You grim people sure have some cool outfits. Makes you look totally slick. Do you have any extras."

"Ehm… maybe but probably not in your sizes ehm…"

"Ah, my bad. I am Matsumoto Rangiku, lieutenant of the tenth division." Rangiku shook Lucy's hand before returning to examining her outfit. "Ok, not my sizes. Do you have a list of materials. Maybe we could produce some ourselves."

"Matsumoto!" The bespectacled woman shouted. "I hope that you're not suggesting that we exchange our uniforms for something, for lack of a better word, foreign. No offense, Fairchild-san."

"None taken… I guess."

"Aww, come on Nanao." Rangiku pounted. "We'll just have some fun with them. You know, start a trend or something. Oooooh, we could put on a fashion show!"

"Yeah, that'd be cool." A short shinigami with short light-brown hair agreed. "We could make it some kind of international exhibition and runway." She enthusiastically suggested.

"What good will that…" Nanao began but was interrupted.

"We can charge money for seeing the show." The doll-faced shinigami on Lucy's left said. "Women will be interested in the outfits and men will be interested in the women wearing the outfits."

Nanao considered the proposal. "That's true. But you do know that we'd need to make all the clothes ourselves and right now isn't a good time for things like this."

Rangiku waved off the vice-chairwoman's protest. "Pishposh. It'll lighten the mood around here considerably and we're just starting to plan. The grim reapers will be long gone before we're ready and we need Lucy here as a consultant before they leave. Right Lucy-san." The strawberry blonde smiled down at the kinda confused grim reaper.

"Yeah… sure, sounds fun." Lucy said with an astounded voice. The mood had shifted from annoying and soul-crushing to welcoming and lively.

"Then it's settled!" Rangiku shouted with an excited voice.

"No it's not!" Nanao countered but was ignored.

"Now then Lucy-san. What can you tell us about fashion in the west." Rangiku asked and suddenly Lucy found herself surrounded by women who were all honestly interested in her opinions and a part of her culture. And just like that Lucy's day, and perhaps the rest of her time on this mission, was saved.

* * *

"You called for me captain." Renji asked as Byakuya as he entered his captain's office.

As usual the sixth division captain didn't beat around the bush. "You have been interviewed by the grim reaper."

"Yeah, he sure was thorough. But I guess that's part of his job." Renji said.

"Is that how you would describe him?" Byakuya questioned. He explained himself when Renji's expression showed a lack of understanding. "I wish to get a better understanding of what kind of characters our guests are."

Renji scratched his head. "Why is that, captain?"

"I do not trust them or their intentions. I wish to understand them better so that I may be prepared for any possible ulterior motives they may have." The sixth division captain said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. "So, what are your opinions regarding Hawkins?"

Renji thought back to his only meeting with grim reaper and collected his thoughts and impressions "He was a professional all the way through the interview. Never once did he display as the slightest hint of surprise at my actions nor did he express his own opinions. He just asked questions and follow-up questions while taking note of everything I said." Renji thought back and remembered another trait the grim reaper possessed. "He smiles a lot too. The smile in itself wasn't all that unusual. In fact, it was pretty natural. But still, I couldn't lose the feeling that there was something behind it."

"You mean like with Ichimaru?" Byakuya asked, remembering the former third captain.

Renji shook his head. "No. That guy could hide his entire being perfectly behind his smile. This Hawkins guy isn't hiding anything with his smile as much as there's something just waiting to be unleashed once he drops it. And that just seems to be what's natural for him."

"And what do you believe he was ready to, as you say, unleash?"

"Well," Renji hesitated for a moment, not entirely show to voice his thoughts. "It felt as though if I gave him any reason for it he wouldn't hesitate to cut off my head." Renji expected his captain to ask for an explanation. Instead the head of the Kuchiki clan simply nodded.

"I agree and I believe that I got a more advanced version of the same feeling."

Renji raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Captain. Did you provoke him?"

Byakuya didn't flinch at the accusation. "I merely stated my opinion to which he reacted. How he chose to handled the situation is his prerogative." Renji hated it when there was a slight possibility that his captain was joking. He never knew how to react.

"But sir, we have captain Zaraki. So shouldn't we give them some leeway in regards to having odd people in high positions?"

Byakuya's gaze hardened so minuscule that it would've been impossible to notice for most people. "They have not yet allowed me to contact Rukia despite the fact that she failed Ukitake's summons. I believe it is because they don't trust me. Suspicion begets suspicion." He mellowed down as subtly as he flared up. "I believe that it is wise to keep a close eye on these grim reapers. If you feel prepared for it I have orders for you regarding that purpose."

Renji immediately straightened his back. "I assure you captain that I'm ready to follow any order you give me."

"Good. I want you to investigate what documents it is that they've gone through. See if there's anything suspicious in their investigation. Any strange patterns or a focus on any one particular element or anything you find odd enough to warrant further inquiries. I would see to this task myself but as we are under observation I cannot draw too much attention to myself. A lieutenant doing the same would be much less suspicious."

Renji bowed quickly and deeply. "I will see to the task at once."

Byakuya nodded. "Be careful, see to it that you are not discovered. Though you are more likely to perform such a menial task it would be best if they did not discover what we are doing."

"Yes captain." Renji bowed once again and left for his new task. Byakuya leaned back in his chair and spared a thought to Rukia's safety.

* * *

"Bye Lucy-san, see you tomorrow."

"See you later Lucy!"

"We'll talk more tomorrow Lucy!"

Lucy could only wave her hand in disbelief as the various shinigami women said their goodbyes. She'd ended up having quite a fun time with the SWA and gotten to know most of the members at least on a rudimentary level. And she couldn't help but wonder how often they used spontaneous ideas to get everybody in a good mood.

As she began skipping back home she took note of the beautiful evening sky. The meeting had taken up the entire day due to everybody being excited as all hell for a theoretical fashion show that Nanao would point out was poorly planned. Lucy had even forgotten about her cancelled date and it would probably had stayed out of her mind for a while longer if she hadn't literally run into Hanatarou as they both rounded the same corner.

"Hi… Lucy-san." Hanatarou stuttered out nervously, clearly worried about how upset she might be with him.

Instead of responding Lucy just sat there and stared at the black haired young man who had several dropped cleaning appliances scattered all around him. Her eyes scanned the scene for several minutes before sharply meeting Hanatarou's. "You smell like…"

"I know." Hanatarou answered with an embarrassed voice.

"And you were carrying a considerable amount of equipment used for cleaning purposes." She paused while her expression hardened. "I was told that you were doing an important duty. This doesn't look like it'd be important."

Hanatarou would've preferred to just stare down into the floor and mumble but he was too afraid of looking away from the green haired reaper. "I was scheduled to cleaning the sewers and couldn't get out of it and I didn't want you to know that I was doing something so demeaning." He half-mumbled.

"You know," Lucy said while standing up and dusting herself off. "If my day hadn't been so fun I would be upset rather than mildly annoyed that you didn't just tell me this up front and instead relied on others. But at least you did think up something for me to do with my day, so you get points for that."

Hanatarou blinked. "So… are you not mad at me?"

Lucy smirked. "Are you gonna treat me to lunch tomorrow?" Hanatarou nodded and smiled. "Then we're good." Lucy concluded. "Is there anything here that hasn't touched anything disgusting today?" She asked while Hanatarou stood up.

"No, there probably isn't." Hanatarou chuckled and Lucy joined him and they laughed together for a minute or two. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you myself and I'm sorry that we couldn't go on a… ehm… you know."

"Yeah." Lucy agreed softly. "It's ok. You were doing your duty. And duty is important, no matter how low some may see it." She teased. "Just be straight with me and we're good. See you tomorrow."

The two medics parted unaware that Richard had been sitting on a nearby roof to go through his notes in peace. Stopping only to watch Lucy and Hanatarou with interest. The gray haired captain smirked to himself. "Awkward medic romances sure are cute." He then stared down at the short personal opinions he'd written down for the day's interview subjects.

_Byakuya Kuchiki: Controlled with superiority complex. _

_Sajin Komamura: Overly emotional. _

_Kyoraku Shunsui: __Funny__, __drunk __dumbass__._

Clearly he wasn't all that impressed.

He stared after the shinigami medic whose silly nature had charmed their own green haired girl. "Hopefully we don't have to end up hurting him." He jumped down to street level and calmly walked home while whistling to himself.

* * *

The world was fuzzier than it usually was whenever Orihime woke up from deep slumber. But she was still pretty sure that she wasn't in her own room. For one thing the bed was somewhat bigger than hers was. And the sunlight came in from a different angle. And there was no room in her apartment that had such a strong Ichigo-smell. And...

Orihime sat up and opened her eyes so much that they resembled saucers. Shock took a hold of her and all she could do was to slowly turn her head to survey the room she was in.

It was as her nose had told her. She was in Ichigo's room. More specifically, she was in his bed.

Her face turned red as her over-active imagination created various scenarios for how she'd ended up there at the same time as her memory of the fierce battle against Michael started surfacing. The happiness and nervousness of waking up in her crush's room mixed together with a stressful sense of urgency that she needed to inform somebody about what had happened and a sudden exhaustion from previous events which she apparently hadn't recovered fully from.

It left her kind of discombobulated and confused as to where she was supposed to turn with the new information in her head. Then she heard that someone was approaching the room fast. It wasn't actually all that fast, she was just exaggerating things.

"_What if it's Kurosaki-kun? Does he know that I'm in his bed? It would be weird otherwise. Did he sleep in the bed with me? NO NO NO! That would be bad… I think. I need to tell him about Michael! Wait! Where's Rukia? If I'm here, Rukia should be here, I hope. He's getting way to close way too fast. Ooh, I need to put on some clothes. Where are my clothes? Wait, what am I wearing?_"

The healer looked down and saw that she was wearing a white shirt that was a few sizes too big for her. Just like the room the shirt had a distinct Ichigo-smell just bursting out of it. Orihime's imagination went into over-drive and when the door opened up she pictured Ichigo smoothly wishing her good morning.

Once she woke up against Orihime would apologise to Yuzu for scaring her by fainting when she came in to check up on Orihime's fever.

* * *

**There we go. Like I said, I'll probably do an edit update when I get home then the updates should be a bit quicker... hopefully. Hope you enjoyed this chapter so far. Have a nice summer y'all, preferably after you've reviewed this chapter.**


	13. Tales of tribulations

**Sorry about the lateness. I've been a bit uninspired lately but I felt that I should at least get this chapter out of the way. It's mostly exposition but it move the plot forward to real fun things. There's a message regarding future updates at the end.**

**Now please read and review.**

* * *

Even without having his shinigami powers activated Kurosaki Ichigo was impressively fast. Running at full-speed allowed him to get back home from school in a little under ten minutes without getting exhausted.

He'd gotten a text message that Orihime and Rukia had both finally woken up. He would've gotten there earlier but Yoruichi had insisted that he stay lest he want detention, Ichigo shuddered at the memory of the way the dark skinned woman had purred out the threat. Once school was over the substitute shinigami had bolted away back to the Kurosaki clinic.

Ichigo pushed up the door, half-shouted a greeting to a startled Yuzu and managed to race halfway up the stairs before someone grabbed his ankles, making him lose his balance and involuntarily slam his face into the stairway.

"What the hell are you doing?" The strawberry haired teen screamed before he actually saw that it was Tatsuki that had managed to follow him. Unlike him though she was out of breath and sweaty.

"Damn… you're fast… bastard." The dark haired girl muttered with a hoarse voice.

Ignoring that his question had gone unanswered Ichigo, now sporting a nasty bruise on his face, got up together with Tatsuki. "Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be at home training or something."

Tatsuki's glare made Ichigo shut up immediately. "One," She said holding up a finger. "Orihime and Rukia are my friends too. I'm not gonna sit and wait by the phone for updates. And secondly," Her eyes narrowed into a deadpan expression. "Someone had to stop you from seeing something you shouldn't see."

Ichigo blinked. "Like what?"

Tatsuki suppressed a chuckle at Ichigo's naiveté. "Yuzu!" The youngest Kurosaki peeked up the stairs. "Have Orihime and Rukia gotten dressed yet?"

"I just got their clothes out of the washer, so they should've just started to." Yuzu answered helpfully.

Tatsuki smirked at Ichigo. "So if you had bullrushed in to check up on them then you might've seen, just as an example, Orihime putting on her bra." Her grin grew wider. "Or was that your plan all along"

"Eiihhhe. My brother is a pervert!" Yuzu shrieked.

"I had no such thing in mind!" Ichigo, now thoroughly red in the face, responded. "And why did you jump to that conclusion? Don't you trust your brother?" While his intentions had indeed been purer than the two ladies were implying the image of Orihime in nothing but her bra had made its way to his mind. He was just a teenage boy after all.

"It's just that most normal guys would jump at such a chance. So why shouldn't you?" Tatsuki reasoned.

Ichigo bit his lip to avoid stuttering out unintelligible half-excuses. Unfortunately his silence just made Tatsuki smirk so much that he was pretty sure she was suppressing a laugh at his expense.

"Just wait outside while I make sure that they're decent." She verbally jabbed and walked past the frowning, more than usual that is, young man.

Ichigo looked down on Yuzu, who was still watching him with a slightly distressed expression. "I'm not a pervert." He muttered and followed his all too amused friend.

The substitute shinigami leaned against the wall outside his room. He tried to focus on being annoyed at the suspicion directed at him. Of course that led to thinking of the accusation which led to him once again picturing Orihime in her bra. In his mind he could put the spotlight on her tantalising curves and creamy skin. Being a rational person Ichigo was aware that his fantasy might not match up perfectly with the Orihime of reality. So he was left to wonder how accurate his mental picture was. And for maybe a second he tried to think of a way to find that out.

"Ok, you may enter." Tatsuki said, her head poking out of his room. She raised an eyebrow at his currently flustered face. "You ok?"

"Yes." He answered curtly and quickly walked past Tatsuki.

Whatever frustration Ichigo felt it melted away and was replaced with relief the second he saw Rukia and Orihime, fully awake and healthy and smiling. "Good to see you both. Awake that is." He said, voicing his thoughts.

Rukia smirked as she answered. "It's good to be awake. For a moment, or quite a few to be honest I wasn't sure if we were going to make it." Her eyes narrowed into a serious expression. "He was strong Ichigo. Captain level in fact. We're lucky to be alive."

Orihime shock her head fervently. "It wasn't luck that saved us. It was Kuchiki-san's bankai."

Ichigo blinked. "Wait, what?"

Rukia ignored Ichigo. "No, no. It was Orihime's amazing powers that truly saved the day."

Another blink. "…what?" This time the two ladies turned to him as Tatsuki walked up by his side.

"It's probably better if you told the two us exactly what happened." Tatsuki said.

Half an hour later, after many questions from Ichigo and colourful descriptions from Orihime, they'd reached as far into the retelling as Rukia could remember. "And then I passed out." She concluded. "How did we get back here?"

"When you got outside that reiatsu-cloaking barrier's reach all the guys that are good at sensing reiatsu…"

"Meaning everybody but Ichigo." Tatsuki teased.

Ichigo ignored her and talked a bit louder. "…felt Rukia and that she was weak. It took us about five minutes to locate you. And that's good because another minute later and we might've lost you." He said darkly.

"Why, were we that badly injured?" Rukia questioned.

Ichigo shook his head. "No. I mean, you were pretty beat up but that wasn't the problem. There were about a hundred of those hollow critter things crawling towards the two of you. So I blasted them all to smithereens."

"And how did we get here?" Rukia asked again.

"Hachi healed both of you and then everybody agreed that it was best if you could rest somewhere where somebody could protect you. I volunteered and everybody agreed, after ignoring me and voting for my place to be used. So I got you both here and Yuzu got you ready for bed." Orihime let out a sigh of relief that was probably a bit too loud.

"What about lieutenant Graystone? We just left him in a block of ice." Rukia's voice had grown more serious as she reached the question she was most interested in.

Ichigo shrugged. "No idea. Love and Rose followed the trail of blood you two left behind as far as they could. They found ice stuck to the ground but no annoying reaper. There wasn't even reiatsu residue or something like that."

"According to mr. hat and clogs," Tatsuki cut in with the superior and exasperated voice of somebody that actually listened when people explained things. "There were traces of the grim reaper's reiatsu at the scene but there was no indication that he'd left the place. We don't really know what happened to him but mr. hat and clogs has a few ideas. Most of which include the grim reaper being kidnapped by the critters like you almost were."

Silence settled in the group as they pondered the information. As often is the case Ichigo was the first to break it.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm getting tired of sitting around doing and knowing nothing. We need to at least get some information about wherever those hollow critters came from." He turned to Orihime. "Did the espada have any information to share with you?"

The healer thought back to her meeting with the hollow-shinigami hybrids, ignoring the small headache it was causing her. "Well…"

* * *

"…they didn't really know anything about the critters." Uryu told Urahara, Shinji and Yoruichi. "But they were pretty certain about who sent the gillian army to attack the town."

The quincy took a deep breath in preparation to repeat the story he'd heard a few days ago. "After they'd returned to Hueco Mundo following the war they amassed every remaining arrancar in Las Noches to talk about the future of their race." He took a moment to remember what had been said as exactly as possible. "Essentially there was a divide within their ranks. Several of the arrancar wished for things to remain as they were while the former espada members pointed out that things could never return to that. They even felt that the Las Noches fortress should be destroyed so that the memory of Aizen could be wiped away completely. The arrancar that disagreed with this were chased away." He noted the darkened expressions on his audience as he said so. "Harribel explained that it was a decision that had to be made but that she also regrets deeply. Especially after what happened following that."

"And what would that be?" Urahara asked curiously.

"One day, while assembling the Las Dias fortress, the remains of an arrancar was dropped in front of them by a hollow. That hollow then basically declared that all arrancar were to leave Hueco Mundo instantly or suffer the consequences. Harribel tore the hollow a part and then they ate it."

Eyebrows raised all around the group and Ishida shrugged.

"They're hungry and hollows are one of the few things in that dimension that they can eat. Of course that action basically started a war. Seems like there's group of hollows that have gotten organised under the rule of one massively powerful hollow. During the first full out assault against Las Dias he joined in on the battle and only Starrk was able to match his raw power." Ishida paused to push his glasses back on his nose. "In the end the arrancar won that battle and chased the opposing army away. Unfortunately about half of the arrancar were killed during the battle, non of the former espada perished."

"So what's the situation between the two armies now?" Shinji asked.

"The hollows have gone into hiding and are attacking on a daily basis while the arrancar remain on the defense. They would send out some of their numbers if the risks weren't so great. The espada are needed to defend Las Dias and keep the lesser arrancar in line. So their situation isn't the greatest and they expressed interest in an alliance with our group…"

"Yeay! We're getting new friends! They're like us but opposite! We're getting cousins!" Mashiro squealed from where she was sitting and drawing moustaches in her friend's assorted manga volumes.

"…unfortunately most of the lesser arrancar are too suspicious of us too work with us. At least until we can find a reason for them to trust us."

"And does Harribel suspect that the gillian army was affiliated with the hollows that they're now fighting?" Yoruichi asked while stifling a yawn.

"She considers it a possibility. But she can't be certain and without any evidence it just isn't enough to convince her subordinates that it would be beneficiary for our groups to join forces."

"You said that they didn't know anything about the critters. Did they consider that there could be any connection between our two situations?" Urahara asked with an excited voice at the prospect of solving a large scale problem with science.

"They're not certain that there's any connection between their problem and ours. But they're not ready to rule it out either. Harribel believes that if we could find any evidence of a connection then the other arrancar can be convinced and a lot of problems would be solved."

Urahara nodded thoughtfully while wearing his mad scientist grin. "Indeed. Although for now I would say that our most pressing problem would be the missing Graystone fellow. We should probably focus more on figuring out where he's disappeared to lest his grim reaper friends finds out and hurt us."

The group raised their eyebrows at the shop-keep.

"What? If they're anything like the shinigami there's a good chance that they'll cut us first and, if we're lucky, ask questions later. Besides, there's been some disturbing new movement from the hollow critters."

"Really?" Shinji asked with a tired voice. He was getting sick of the enemy they knew so little about. "And what have they been up to?"

Urahara decided to not beat around the bush. "A large number of them have appeared within the dangai. At first I believe that the Cleaner would just erase them like it does with everything else but they seem capable of hiding from it."

"Huh, that's actually pretty impressive." Love remarked.

"It certainly is." Urahara agreed. "I experimented a little by sending a hell butterfly through the dangai and it was immediately swallowed by them." His expression and tone turned more serious. "I don't know what they're doing in there. It could be merely observation or it could be that they're waiting for us to warn Soul Society. Either way, the enemy has made another move and they're boxing us in."

* * *

The assessment of the grim puppet was so diverting that even the echoing approach of his brutish associate went unobserved.

"Leiiaborous!" An earthquaking roar rudely shook footings and attention diverted from the grim puppet. A hiss sharp enough to cut steel informed the colossal shadow of its unwanted attendance.

"You were not beckoned!" The now named Leiiaborous displayed his vicious teeth. Ready for a hierarchical struggle.

"Nor do I need to be." Surroundings shook at the giant's voice. The filth that trickled down infuriated Leiiaborous' extensions. "Why have you altered the plan and brought a reaper to my domain?"

Limits were a constant in this partnership. Limits and who was the commanding part. Arguments were frequent and made the inevitable decay of the partnership something to be desired. For now it would need to hold and thus rage was reeled in. For now.

"He holds secrets that would aid us even greater than what we planned. It necessitates greater priority. Acquiring the grim one is a recent progression too urgent to inform you through normal channels."

Growling in an attempt to intimidate the giant crossed glares with his companion. "What does his secrets offer?"

Leiiaborous needed only one word to sway the humdrum giant.

"Power." He whispered as a soft wind bringing grave tidings.

Moments passed. The giant turned. Their conference was ended.

Or it would have been. "You should do well in altering targets."

"What!" Restrained wrath never sounded so devastating.

"Karakura town houses many warriors of grand quality. It is a greater threat than the aberrations." A dry breathing expected arguments of the foolish type. It was proven faulty.

"Consider it considered." He lumbered off.

Flexibility was his partners' weakness. Adding information at the end of a meeting when he wanted none bewildered him and he would delay operations before assaulting the city thinking it was an idea of his devising.

Manoeuvring the dull was a fine art.

Focus once again turned to the grim puppet. His secrets would soon be his no longer.

* * *

**Ok, there we go. Now I'm sorry to say that I'm gonna put the story on a bit of a hiatus. There's another project that's stealing room in my head and I need to get it out of there to properly focus on this story. To make it up to everybody the next update will be a big one. Just so you know.**


	14. Prison Warden Hawkins

**I'm horribly sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I got distracted, busy, stressed, lazy and then it turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. But anyway. Here it is now just in time for New Year and I'm really happy with it overall. I promise you that I have not abandond this story. I like it too much.**

**I would also like to point out that I've done a bit of an edit/update of the first few chapters as well as the previous one so you may want to check those out too. With that said I invite you to read and enjoy this new chapter and that you'll give it a nice long review and that you'll all have a happy new year.**

* * *

A starry, cloudless sky hung above them like a beautiful painted ceiling. The only sound they could hear were that of their own feet stepping on and off the street. It was a perfect moment for Orihime to make a move on Ichigo. Of course, the very thought of doing that sent the strawberry haired girl into a spiral of embarrassment so twisted it couldn't really be called a spiral.

Nevertheless, Ichigo was walking her home and, to the future disappointment of the people that set up the situation, she was content with just that.

A brief but cold wind passed them from the opposite direction and sent shivers through the healer as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

"You cold?" Ichigo asked, the most he'd said since they left his house. The human vizard took off his coat and draped it across Orihime's shoulders before she could respond properly. "Is that better?" He asked politely.

"Y…yes. Thank you Kurosaki-kun. But what about you? Aren't you cold?" She asked nervously.

Ichigo waved away the concern. "I'll be fine and once you're home I'll just take the coat back and be better."

"Oh, ok." Topics speed through Orihime's mind as she didn't want to lose the opening the cold wind had given her, she'd thank it later somehow. "When are you going to face your inner hollow?" Sadly she kind of brain farted as far as romantic topics where concerned. "No, sorry. That's really not my concern and…"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Right after school." Ichigo answered plainly. Seemingly unbothered by both the question and Orihime's rambling. "Urahara's and Shinji's preparations will be finished by then."

"Oh." A tiny paus. "Aren't you worried?" She asked, confused by his calm.

"Not really. I've done it before and yeah it's gonna be weird and tough but I think that I get him now. I'll be able to deal with him." The teenage boy had his usual confident heroic smirk plastered on his face. And yet Orihime didn't quite believe him.

"Are you sure? That it'll be that easy I mean."

"Well," Ichigo scratched his head. "I guess that there's always a chance for a miscalculation." Orihime's expression slumped in response. "But I always end up ok you know."

Orihime smiled sadly. "Almost always you mean." It was eerie how clearly she could imagine a hole in Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo's voice grew serious. "Hey, I'm still here ain't I? And you've saved me and basically all of our friends more than once." He looked into her eyes a smiled kindly, like he always did whenever he was trying to convince people of something. "You were amazing back then and you're even stronger now. So don't let one miss get to you."

A second went by and then Orihime chuckled.

"Thank you Kurosaki-kun. I don't think about that time a lot but…"

"Keep doing that." Ichigo encouraged. "It's better for you in the long run if you focus on the great stuff you do ." He smirked at her, finding it very easy to do so. She reciprocated with a smile of her own which brought Ichigo's mind to another time when he'd seen her smile like that. "By the way, mind giving me a hint of what you're gonna bring this coming Friday. Dad and Yuzu won't stop bugging me about tricking it out of you."

And for the rest of the walk together the two teens talked and occasionally laughed while reminiscing about past dinners with Ichigo's family. They shortly, too shortly in Orihime's mind, arrived at the busty girl's apartment.

"Well, thank you for walking me home Kurosaki-kun." They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. "Here's your coat back." She squeaked.

"Ah. Thanks." More staring. "Ehm, see you tomorrow I guess." The two said their own little nervous goodbyes and parted ways. Ichigo scratched his head, feeling that something was missing and Orihime almost punched herself for missing out on such a great moment for cute romantic progress.

Neither teen had noticed that they'd been observed by a hidden presence. "_That's the guy she likes? Really? Well he looks good I guess but I always thought that he seemed kind of like a dumb punk. No. Focus. You're on a mission. You've got to get the princess._"

With a quick leap from the roof of the building opposite Orihime's apartment the invisible observer landed in front of the healer's door. "_Heh, I wonder what she'll think when she sees me again. Maybe she'll get terrified._" A wicked grin spread across the hooded face which was followed by a grumbling stomach.

"Damnit!" The stranger whispered sharply and looked around. "_This is important. But I'm so hungry._" The stomach practically snarled. "_Maybe I should just find some random hollow to snack on. There should plenty of them in this town. I'll be back here by tomorrow._" The stranger jumped away in search of food not knowing that a certain young quincy was busy eliminating most of the intended snacks.

* * *

Night in Soul Society is a fairly pleasant experience really. Its residents were generally well-mannered and while they could cause a ruckus they never went too far… most of the time. If you wanted a quiet night you just needed to avoid the 11th division's favourite hangouts and Matsumoto Rangiku's bar-run.

Besides that it was an all-around calm place and it was very easy for someone to sneak around at night. Especially if you've been around as long as Abarai Renji.

Normally the red-haired lieutenant would be out having a drink with his friends and gossip about whatever rumours they'd heard that day, currently that would probably be the grim reapers visiting the place. But tonight he was busy following a lead in his investigation of the very same guests.

Checking out what files the reapers had extracted from the archives was rapidly turning out to be a dead end, although he felt as though there was something he was missing. So instead Renji had decided to see if one the rumours surrounding the western group would turn out to be true.

He'd heard that one of the grim reapers had been seen walking around the edges of the fortress the past several nights at a time when the other four had been seen retiring for the day. It wasn't anything entirely solid really, just a rumour going around with the lower ranked shinigami that might've been exaggerated due to the tensions caused by the grim reapers' presence.

Nevertheless, Renji decided that he might as well check it out. At the very least it got him out and about after sitting in a room all day. Of course now he was either standing still or slowly strolling around the edges of Soul Society at semi-random, patiently waiting for something that might not happen to happen. During all this he could naturally hear all the fun that his fellow shinigami was having because they didn't have a suspicious captain who'd given them an simple order that turned out to be tricky to follow.

Renji sighed. To be honest he wasn't really expecting to find anything. So far the grim reapers seemed to check out as ok and the rational side of him was beginning to figure that they weren't actually up to anything weird. The more adventurous side of him naturally pouted in disappointment.

And that's when he saw the light.

It lasted less than a second. But he definitely saw an intense green light flicker in and out of existence two buildings away. He reacted instantly and shunpoed to the roof closest to the light, hoping to catch on whatever was the cause behind it, whether it was one of the reapers or not.

By the time Renji reached his destination the area was empty, except for a brisk shadow moving round a corner at the other end of the building. Not wasting a single moment, Renji quickly followed Mr. Suspect-that-can-make-mysterious-green-lights-appear-for-unknown-reasons.

"_Hmm. I might need to shorten the name._" Renji pondered as he noticed the suspect shadow rounding another corner. "_Maybe Mr. Annoyingly-quick-shadow-person._" It was true, the mystery man or woman was able to keep away from Renji pretty well, even when he used shunpo. At best Renji could see that the one he was pursuing was wearing a black cloak that covered their face.

It was a frustrating yet exhilarating hunt through the back-alleys of the Seireitei. But eventually he discovered that he was gaining on his prey. Each second he was getting closer and closer, boosting his confidence. Then, with a cocky grin and eyes narrowed in satisfaction, the red-haired lieutenant reached out to grab Mr. Perpetrator-whose-crime-was still-unaccounted-but-since-he's-running-away-he's-probably-a-villain-of-some-kind.

So naturally the chasee decided to use that exact moment to set off some kind of explosion of excruciatingly bright light in Renji's face causing him to lose his balance and fall face-first into the ground.

With a furious growl Renji pushed himself and his bloody nose off the ground, ready to continue with his hunt. Only to lose that determination as he opened up his eyes to one of the aforementioned loud streets of the Seireitei. Complete with a drunk Rangiku holding a half-full bottle just happening to walk by.

"Reny!" Rangiku slurred. "Where you been? Is… Is there a party in that ally? Ali. Ali Baba. All in. Hey! There's Reji!"

Renji sighed and pushed himself up. "Hi Rangiku. I suppose it's too much to ask if you've seen a person in hooded cloak run by just now?"

The drunken lieutenant's face contorted into expressions that don't really have names yet as she tried to think through the jumbled haze of her inebriated mind. "I don't really know what your fancy words mean. Buuuuut… I want to drink! Coming?"

"Yeah, why not?" Renji grumbled, figuring that he wouldn't be able to follow the lead tonight. "There's nothing better to drown frustrations than some booze."

"There… there you go with fancy words again!" Rangiku shouted as though she'd been insulted. "When did you become an intelligek… intellact… intralang… smart guy! You and your two triplets… damn smart guys!"

"I hear ya." Renji muttered as he took the bottle from her hand and downed about half the content in a single swipe. "Let's get going. To get wasted and temporarily forget our woes!"

"Hahahaha!" The blonde laughed and threw an arm across Renji's shoulders. "You're funny Rimy. How come Ruccola never sees that Timmy? How come?"

While the lieutenant duo stumbled away into the crowd the grim reaper known as Nicodéme Lumiere dropped the kido that had shielded him from being discovered by the two. It had been somewhat annoying just standing still while listening to their dull conversation, and smelling the frighteningly intense odour of alcohol on the female's breath. But he'd managed to ascertain that the nosey red head had indeed been completely unaware of what he'd actually been doing tonight.

Nicodéme pulled on his hood once more and flash stepped away. He'd needed to inform captain Erasmus and captain Hawkins that they'd had to be more cautious in their secondary investigation.

* * *

Early the next morning Richard Hawkins ambled through the grim reapers' makeshift HQ in the 3rd division's barracks as he'd done the last few days. A notepad tucked in under his right arm, his scythe loosely strapped to his back and a jaunty smile ready for whomever he might meet. That included the young girl trying to hide behind a closed door a little further down the hall, waiting for him to pass.

He could just opt to walk by without acknowledging the green haired medic and sparing her nerves just this one morning. "_But where's the fun in that?_" The grey haired captain smirked.

"Morning Luce!" He called out informally and was rewarded with a terrified yelp muffled by the door. "You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that. I'm an excellent hide-and-seeker." The last part was said with a jovial tone while a thin kind of smile that gives nightmares to small children adorned his face. It only existed for the fraction of a second, blink and you'd miss it.

Most people would.

But not Lucy.

Lucy could practically hear the smile. And she didn't need to be asleep to picture nightmarish visions in her head. So as a defence mechanism she went eerily silent at the comment and stayed that way until Richard was, she hoped, out of hearing range. Once that was the case Lucy hung her head in shame. She'd be a bit late for her daily meet-up with Hanatarou.

Richard on the other hand quickly discarded the whole thing out of his mind and began sorting through his schedule for the day. A busy day it was for the 3rd division captain. He was planning to interview the important people in divisions 10 to 13 and then hopefully he would be able to aid Lumiére and Erasmus in their paper duty. Hopefully that would speed up the process and get them home. While he appreciated the change of scenery Richard was beginning to grow concerned about the responsibilities he'd left at home.

And so he set off to what he expected to be a rather busy, maybe a bit stressful, but not really noticeable day.

* * *

"Is it always this cold in here?" Richard asked while shivering slightly, trying not to let it show.

"I'm not feeling anything." Hitsugaya Toshirou said without his expression, which seemed caught somewhere between indifferent and animosity, flinching.

Richard narrowed his eyes as his smile grew wider. "Of course not. Must be my imagination." He shifted around a little in his seat, hoping that he wouldn't get a cold. "So then, I've read that you were one of the few people that suspected things weren't what they seemed to be during the initial incident regarding Sosuke Aizen."

"That would be correct." Toshirou answered shortly.

"Well, please inform me of that time. What was it that was going through your head? Basically just tell me your side of the story."

Toshirou stared at Richard for a few second with what could only be summed up as restrained frustration before speaking. "Very well. Though, you must be tired of hearing this story by now."

Richard raised an eyebrow at the satisfied tone in the young captain's voice. "I'm certain that your perspective will add a whole new dimension to it captain Hitsugaya." Richard lied with a polite smile.

Unlike Byakuya Toshirou hadn't prepared himself with a concise yet informative recount of the events that had taken place. So Richard, who indeed was getting bored with hearing about it all over and over, got a retelling that was slightly longer that most of the other captains due to Toshirou's deep involvement behind the scenes. Luckily it actually turned out to be a pretty interesting story for Richard as the white haired captain was somewhat easier to read than his more experienced colleagues.

Most notably was that Toshirou never let down the air of hostility towards his western counterpart. In fact, there were certain intervals in the story when Richard swore that the chill in the room got even more intense. Even then it didn't really bother him much. It'd been a long time since Richard actually cared about what people thought of him.

"Right then, one more question captain Hitsugaya." The grey haired grim reaper said off-handedly as the interview was coming to a close. "If you had the chance to do it all over again what would you have done differently?"

"I would have gotten lieutenant Hinamori as far away from Aizen as possible to keep her from experiencing the same emotional pain and overall just try to keep Aizen's plans from running as smoothly as they did."

Jotting down the response Richard blinked sharply in realisation. "_Hinamori is the name of that lieutenant that almost started crying after her interview. And she's also this young fellow's childhood companion. Well, that explains the cold then._" Richard's lips curved upward in merriment as he added this new information to his notepad before standing up.

"Thank you for your time captain Hitsugaya. This has been most informative." Both of them refrained from holding out their hands. It would just be insulting to pretend that much really.

"No problem at all." Toshirou answered curtly. Richard was just about to open the office door when an unexpected question stopped him. "So how did I do?"

"Pardon?" The grim reaper answered, looking back over his shoulder.

"With the interview. I'm assuming that you're building up a database of profiles to analyse how well we of the eastern branch actually do function. I'm just curious about what your idea is of me."

An apologetic smile and voice met the young captain. "Sorry, that's classified information."

Toshirou nodded. "Worth a shot."

Richard smiled kindly and was about to proceed when he remembered that there was one more person of the 10th division he needed to interview. "By the way, where can I find your lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku?"

As if on cue the office door was forcefully opened and Richard came eye to blurry red-eye with the aforementioned lady.

"Sorry cap-ten." She slurred. "I didn't get to bed in my sleep. Everyboty ha so much fun an'…" She suddenly noticed Richard and her expression mellowed into what she thought was flirtatious. "Well. Ello dere han…gaah!" She tried to lean against the doorframe but missed by quite a large margin and fell to the floor. "…ow…"

Richard once again turned to Hitsugaya. "Lovely."

Hitsugaya just stared at his lieutenant with odd affection. "I know. She really is." At that moment Rangiku threw up on Richard's shoes.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and an improvised shoe-cleaning later a jovial-looking Richard had moved on to the next division on his list.

"Greetings captain Zaraki." Richard said good-naturedly to the large and muscular man with quite possibly the most elaborately styled hair he'd ever seen.

"S'up." Kenpachi answered with a dull voice. He was sitting almost insultingly casually on the floor in front of his office desk with his zanpakuto leaning against it next to its master. A large green bottle dangled loosely in his fingers.

"We have not met but I do hope that you're informed about why I'm here." Richard said, still keeping his smile on despite the fact that this man was annoyingly lax in his behaviour.

"You the guy that's gonna clean our sewers today?" Kenpachi asked bluntly. For the fraction of a second Richard's smile cracked into a bewildered frown but recovered equally instantaneously.

"No. I'm the one of the grim…"

"Oh yeah," The battle-prone captain interrupted. "You're one of them western people that's been holding interviews in the other divisions. Why are you here?"

The smile cracked for a slightly longer period of time before recovering. "I'm here to do just that. Conduct an interview with you about the incidents caused by Aizen Sosuke."

"Sounds boring but ok. Get on with it." Kenpachi ordered and downed a large portion of the bottle's content in one gulp. "Ah. Good stuff. Want any?"

"I'll be fine, thank you." Richard straightened his back in his seat. "First of all I'd like to know why you didn't appear when I and my comrades arrived a few days ago."

"I got lost and then I got bored so I just went home." Kenpachi answered bluntly and unashamedly.

"That's it?" Richard asked incredulously.

"That's it."

Richard blinked at Kenpachi's single visibly non-plussed eyed before moving on. "Ok then. Ehm, then why don't you just tell about the events in question from your perspective?"

"Ken-chan hit lots of people with his sword!" Shrieked a little pink haired girl that suddenly popped down from the ceiling and landed on Kenpachi's shoulder.

This time Richard's smile did not recover. "What's that?" He asked, not even trying to remedy that he should've asked who and not what.

Neither Kenpachi nor the little girl seemed to mind, she probably didn't even notice as she was busy picking up half-eaten candies out of her pockets.

"This here is Yachiru. She's my lieutenant." The 11th division captain explained.

"I see." Richard said, trying to fake an understanding he did not have. "Well, these interviews are supposed to be one on one so she'll have to go."

"Ok, but you'll have to ask her questions too seeing as she was with me the whole time. Do you think you'll have time for that?"

Being an intelligent person Richard quickly got the message. "I guess we can make one exception. So whenever you're ready."

"Whenever I'm ready what?"

"…to tell your side of what happened during the incidents with Aizen Sosuke." Richard repeated uncertainly.

"She summed it up pretty well." Kenpachi said while pointing at Yachiru.

"I'm helping!" She shouted happily, spraying cookie crumbles all over Kenpachi who just lazily brushed them aside.

"I'm… going to need some more details than that." Richard explained.

"Fine." He sighed. "Let's see now. I fought Ichigo. That was awesome."

"Ken-chan won!"

"And then I fought Komamura and Tousen. Pretty fun, but the big wolf-bastard ran away just as the fight got interesting. Some time later I fought…"

"Wait," Richard interrupted. "You did do more than just fight other people right?"

"Yeah." Kenpachi's voice didn't hide that he though it was a dumb question. "But none of that's important."

"Not even the part where you helped the group that had invaded your HQ?"

"What's special about that? Ichigo wasn't a bad guy so I decided to help his weakass friends out. Now then, who else did I fight?"

Richard put down his notepad and sighed as Kenpachi and Yachiru listed three more fights. "_This is going nowhere. I've got what I need. Like hell I'm staying here and letting my brain collapse due to sheer stupid._"

"Well, thanks for that little… whatever the hell that was." Richard muttered loudly.

"An inter-vous." Yachiru said with a faux helpful voice while staring mockingly at Richard for his lack of knowledge.

"Yeah, that took long enough." Kenpachi yawned and stood up as Richard did the same. "So, you wanna fight?"

"…what?"

"You're done here and I reckon that you've gotta be pretty strong to be a captain. So let's fight."

"Ehm, that's not…" The need to sidestep away from a frighteningly powerful slash kept the 3rd division captain from elucidating to Kenpachi why the two of them fighting would be a stupid idea.

* * *

30 minutes later Richard had managed to escape fairly unscathed, a little cut across his left cheek was a small price to pay considering how Kenpachi had destroyed a few walls while chasing after him.

Now he was standing in the office of the 12th division captain, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, being unable to properly concentrate. It probably had something to do with the distant noise that sounded like a human screaming in agonising pain.

However, he was able to easily refocus his attention upon hearing captain Kurotsuchi addressing him.

"Don't just stand there fool. I have much more important matters to attend to this day. There are formulas to be tested and devices to assemble and eggs to be hatched. So much to do. You have five minutes starting now."

To be honest Richard quite often felt the need to be hostile towards men in his immediate surrounding. Of course, that was still usually limited to his division's special assignments. Meeting men that evoked these feelings outside certain confines usually meant that they'd had to be subdued and he was usually allowed to cut loose.

So when Mayuri's mere presence dragged out these emotions Richard had a fairly difficult time to not immediately throttle the man. The fact that the mad scientist shinigami was horribly rude and impatient did not help either.

"It is quite honestly impossible to finish the interview in under five minutes captain Kurotsuchi. You were given ample amounts of time to prepare for this interview and should've adjusted your schedule accordingly." Richard said with a tone friendly but strained voice.

Mayuri scoffed. "This petty little investigation slipped my mind as I had more important work to tend to."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

Mayuri crossed his arms and answered with and indignant voice, as if Richard had asked something well above his position. "That's not for one such as you to know. Your five minutes are up. I expect you to find your own way out."

The masked captain was about to hurriedly stride past the grim reaper when he was suddenly halted by a blast of killing intent as Richard grabbed the scientist's shoulder.

"**Sit down please.**" Richard growled politely and met Mayuri's inquisitive eyes with a decidedly sociable expression.

Mayuri looked at the hand on his shoulder and then at Richard's face. The scientist tilted his head. "Interesting." He murmured.

* * *

Strenuous was the task of excavating and interpreting a warrior's mind. Battles long since past had veritable shrines sculpted out of recollections of pride. Firm and solid they were difficult to sieve through. Yet the grim one's mind folded without much opposition. Only one ultimate vestige had lasted through Leiiaborous initial constructions.

He clawed and pushed and tore and heaved at the final structure and yet it remained. Unfortunately patience and curiosity were a formidable duo and at last the mental doorway was giving in.

It had last for what seemed like weeks. Screams and roars in the back made Leiiaborous consider his brutish partner as a stimulating conversationalist. But it had all paid off.

With a mighty strike the fortified memory shield collapsed and Leiiaborous was privy to the secrets that now showered over his eyes.

Instantly the decision to alter plans was made. A distraction was needed and a long voyage might be required. Then true power would be by his side.

* * *

Loud arguments and random chatter reigned all around the green haired grim reaper but she did pay any attention to any of it. Nor did she react with more than an annoyed hushing noise or absent-minded nodding motion when somebody tried to interact with her. Lucy's concentration was completely zeroed-in on the magazine in her hands. She sat almost entirely still, her eyes moving across the page and the occasional turning of a page being the only signs that she wasn't actually a very life-like statue.

A few of the shinigami women were actually starting to get a bit concerned when, 20 minutes since she started reading, Lucy slammed the magazine shut.

"IS HE FREAKING BLIND!" She screamed in her native language to nobody in particular.

"I take it that you're finding Kuchiki-san's 'Dinner tales of love' to be rather engrossing then?" Rangiku asked, taking a break from going through measurements for the SWA-members.

In a fit of rage befitting that of an internet-shipper Lucy expressed her newfound annoyance to the busty lieutenant, and really everybody with functioning hearing at the SWA's western-themed-fashion-show-emergency-meeting.

"How can he not see all signs? The blushing, the affectionate stares and the way she clearly adores him! Is this Ichigo really that much of a guy!" Lucy asked indignantly, as if Ichigo had insulted someone near and dear to her.

"Well," Rangiku pondered. "He kind of is. If by 'guy' you mean that he doesn't get the romantic tell-tale signs sent out from a girl, then yeah."

Lucy pouted. "Boys that way are stupid."

Rangiku smirked at the opening the foreign medic had given her. "Of course you'd think so Lucy-chan. Your taste is more aimed at the gentle and unassuming type isn't it?"

A rapid amount of blinking occurred. "What you say?"

The big breasted shinigami leaned in with a knowing smirk. "Oh come now. We've all noticed who you like to hang out with the most here. He even escorted you to this meeting." There was a terrifying predatory aspect in Rangiku's eyes and several of the other women were beginning to listen in on the conversation. Escape seemed like the most advantageous action.

"I see that we short of cotton. I'll get!" Lucy practically shrieked and almost ran out of the meeting hall turned sowing and planning room much to Nanao's frustration.

Thinking herself safe once she was outside the SWA meeting room Lucy's eyes grew to saucer-size when Rangiku caught up to her, grabbing her by the shoulder. Lucy was starting to think that she was too easily catchable.

"You don't even know where the supplies needed are." Rangiku teased. "Let Rangiku lead you there and we can have a nice long talk about your intentions with 7th seat Yamada." At this point Lucy was convinced that Rangiku had been a grinning tiger in a previous life.

However, all her concerns about relationship talk quickly vanished as they were about to enter the main street and she felt a disgruntled presence. The medic promptly halted and pulled both of them up to a wall.

Suddenly Rangiku felt herself yanked back forcefully. "Quiet! Stay absolutely quiet." The green haired medic hissed and tip-toed past her companion to sneak a peek round the corner they'd almost passed. She then instantly backed up and pressed herself tightly against the wall.

Walking past them a bit further down the street was Richard, wearing a most tired and annoyed expression. He was uncharacteristically dragging his feet and seemed more like the terrifying bogeyman that Lucy often pictured him to be in her head.

"Ahh. I see what you mean." Rangiku whispered. "I wouldn't want to meet anybody after a day like the one he's had. Especially since I was part of it all. Did you hear what happened between him and captain Zaraki?" The blonde shinigami asked, trying to start some old-fashioned gossip.

The medic just shook her head lightly. "This is the only time when he's safe to be around." She stared intently at the passing captain as though he was a terrifying zombie. "He's less attentive." She whispered so quietly Rangiku barely heard her.

Her interest peaked, Rangiku momentarily forgot about any possible medic-on-medic action and decided to investigate this newfound information further. "Oh. What makes you say that? He always seems so charming to me."

Lucy sighed dejectedly. "That what everybody says. They say I am silly and just let rumours get to my head."

"Rumours?" The chesty gossip almost squeaked hungrily. "What rumours?"

"Ehm… I should not…" Lucy hesitated, uncertain of how much she could reveal without it actually being considered an act of treason that would get her thrown into the care of the very person they were discussing.

Not knowing the grim reaper's internal quandaries continued undeterred. "Come on now. I promise that I won't judge you and it might be good for you to voice your concerns."

The medic squirmed nervously. She did want to talk with someone about the problems she had with captain Hawkins. That is, someone who didn't find her stupid, silly and/or childish for fearing him, which applied to all her colleagues on his mission.

"_If I just keep it to the basic facts and rumours it should be ok… I hope._" She looked around and seeing that people were starting to filter out on the streets hissed to Rangiku. "Somewhere more private please."

Rangiku smiled like a chesire cat and pulled Lucy along with her. "This way my dear little gal pal." Pulling the shorter girl into an alley where shadows concealed them. "Spill." She ordered.

The green haired girl took a deep breath. "Captain Hawkins is the main interviewer in our investigation. The reason for that is because he is able to see through lies really well and drag information out of the most tight-lipped person."

"Yeah. Yeah." Rangiku said hurriedly, hoping that the rest of the information would be more interesting.

At this point Lucy went a little pale and her voice got hoarse. "He makes great use of those skills in his role as our prison warden." She frantically looked around, as though Richard would jump out of the shadows and rip out her heart.

"Interesting. Go on." Rangiku pushed, feeling that they were getting closer to the juicy centre.

"As prison warden, captain Hawkins keeps the criminals safely locked away. There hasn't been a single successful prison break since he took over the position. Inside the prison he is the one true ruler. Once you get thrown into his prison you're not coming out." She started fidgeting with her hands and looked down into the ground. "There is a rumour, just something that goes around at the bars, that one of the reasons nobody gets out is that captain Hawkins will at times e… e…. ex…" She couldn't get it out so she just looked up at Rangiku and drew a line across her throat. "And that he does so whenever he pleases."

Rangiku swallowed nervously at the notion. "Really? That sounds… serious." She stumbled across the words, not certain what she was supposed to say. "And that's why you're afraid of him? Because of that rumour?"

"Ehm…" Lucy stuttered as her memory replayed a scene that she wished was from her nightmares.

* * *

_**15 years ago**_

She could hear the commotion downstairs and her panic wasn't making it any better. Screams of searing pain, bones breaking violently, blood gushing all over the place and bodies hitting the floor. And despite all that noise, some of it amplified by her imagination, Lucy slowly slid along the wall of a darkened hallway. The moon and the stars illuminating it through the windows.

"Find shelter." Lucy whispered. "Find shelter and wait until it's all over. You won't die. Everything will be ok. Everything will be ok. Somebody will come to save us. Either captain Banes or captain Collins. They wouldn't leave me here"

As she got further down the hallway it became apparent to her that the disturbing sounds weren't just coming from downstairs. From the office door furthest the hallway she could hear the sounds of battle… no. It was the sounds of slaughter.

Pleading voices being silence. Steel cutting through flesh. Lucy froze in terror. Her mind was telling her to run into one of the other doors but her body refused to comply. When the doorknob to the office of death started turning her knees gave out and she slumped to the floor.

Before it could open the door exploded outward as a man twice the size of any normal person was sent flying through it. He crashed hard on the floor a few meters away from Lucy, she could see some teeth flying through the air.

The man lifted his head. He looked just as frightened as she did. Maybe that's why he thought she'd be on his side. "Please. Help me. You've got to stop him. He's crazy. He's not supposed to do this. He…" The man was instantly silence as a figure stomped down on his head.

If she weren't so terrified Lucy would've screamed. The man in front of her was holding a large scythe in his hands and fresh blood decorated the blade as well as his clothes and face. His smile was a wicked curve of gleeful superiority and his treacherous eyes shone with dark intent in the light of the night.

With one swift and powerful swing of his weapon the larger man's head was disconnected from his body and rolled heavily to the side where its dead eyes stared helplessly at the medic.

The killer fixated his gaze as well on the terrified girl. He looked unsure of what to make of her presence, as though she wasn't supposed to be there. Then he gained a more composed stance and tried to brush his grey hair into a more suitable shape but gave up once he noticed that he was just staining it with blood. Stepping down from the decapitated corpse Richard Hawkins flashed Lucy one of his standard smiles.

"Hello there. Sorry about that. Some of the rioters tried to sneak up on me in my own office. Can you believe that? I got a little over-excited." Lucy did not answer. In fact, it looked to Richard as if she was trying to stay still enough for him to believe that she was part of the fixture.

"You're one of the new medics that have been assigned to us this month right?" Still no movement. "I realise that this may be frightening but I can assure you that if you just come with me everything will be all right." He bent down and held out a blood soaked gloved hand.

At that point Lucy fainted.

* * *

"Yeah. The rumour. That's why I find him terrifying." Lucy lied.

Rangiku examined the foreign girl for a few moments. "You're lying. There's something else that you're not telling me."

A cold sweat appeared on the grim reaper. "I… I should get back to others." She muttered and tried to run away. A gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her cold.

"It's ok." Rangiku said soothingly. "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine. I'll never bring it up again if you don't want me to." Lucy looked back and discovered that the strawberry blonde was giving her heartfelt smile of kindness. "But if you ever do feel the need to talk. About this or anything really. Come to me and I'll help out better than I did here." Rangiku squeezed Lucy's shoulder lightly. "I like you Lucy-san. And so does the rest of the SWA. You're cute and nice to be around."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you." She squeaked out and ran away. An odd feeling surged in her gut. She was starting to feel more at home with the strangers than with her own people.

* * *

"These people are insane!" Richard screamed as he slammed the office door shut, tossed his notepad to Nicodéme, who caught it without looking up from the multitude of reports he was taking notes of, and flopped down into one of the deskless chairs they'd brought in.

"Really? I just find them annoying." Evadne muttered. "Please tell me that you're finally done with your end."

"I am and thank heaves for that. If it'd gone on any longer who knows what kind freak I'd have to interview."

"Are they really that bad captain Hawkins?" Nicodéme asked, pausing in his work for a moment.

"Just read my reports. One of them tried fight me and the last one got a coughing fit so bad that he needed to be in bed for most of the interview. Not to mention the creepy scientist guy."

"I doubt that he's worse than Kneller." Evadne commented, earning a slight shudder from Nicodéme.

"Please." Richard snorted. "Captain Kneller just accidentally happens to blow stuff up three times a day. The Kurotsuchi guy is just a monster. I wouldn't mind throwing him into prison and never let him see the light of day."

"What about captain Silva" The bespectacled lieutenant said hurridly to get the topic away from his nerve-wrecking captain. "Most would say that she's rather odd."

Richard waved the idea away. "She's just creepy to hang out with. As long as she's not targeting you she's as harmless as a kitten."

"Whatever did happen to that box of kittens she found?" Evadne asked in the manner of somebody trying to remember a particular word in a song lyric.

"They ran away the second they could move properly. Like I said, she's creepy to hang out with." Richard explained.

"The point is that we have some strange elements in our organisation too. So maybe we shouldn't judge these shinigami too harshly." Nicodéme reasoned while adjusting his glasses.

Richard shook his head. "We just have a bunch of weirdoes in our stable. Granted, that's the case for most of our dear hosts. But a lot of them are just emotionally unstable. Like that kid captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro. Who thought that it was a good idea to give the responsibilities of a captain to a brat like him?"

"Lieutenant Graystone is young too." Nicodéme offered.

"Not that young and quite honestly he's been stuck at lieutenant level for far too long." Richard said.

"You wouldn't believe that with the way he's been taking care of this mission." Evadne growled. "The little prat hasn't sent a single report since that last excuse. If you're really done with the interviews would you go to investigate what it is that he's doing over there?"

Richard shrugged. "Sure. I could use the change of scenery."

At that point a careful knock came from the doorway and Lucy her head into the room. "F-f-4th seat Fairchild reporting in." She stuttered and entered the room, making sure to not meet Richard's eyes.

"You're in early little Lucy." Richard said jovially, ignoring her attempts to ignore him. "Hey, you know lieutenant Graystone since way back. Why do you think he's been so lax with his reports on this mission?"

Lucy instantly regretted her decision to return, feeling very uncomfortable at being the centre of attention. She was about to mumble something silly when the incredibly wonderful sound of the device Evadne used to communicate with the elusive lieutenant distracted the whole room.

"Speaking of the inefficient bastard." Evadne said, the frustration in her voice hungry for an outlet. "Let's see what he hasn't achieved today." All ready to vent, Evadne brought up the message and read it. Then she went quiet and just stared at the screen.

"Captain Erasmus? Is everything all right?" Nicodéme asked with a concerned voice.

Evadne responded in a stoic yet strained tone. "The message reads: 'It's as we suspected. The anomaly is on the vizards' side. I am injured. They are closing in. Please help me."

A tense silence settled over the room. Richard's eyes darkened as he tightened his fist. Nicodéme pressed his pen straight through the paper he was writing on. Lucy turned as pale as a ghost and looked like she was going to throw up. Evadne retained an exterior of forced tranquillity as she turned off the communicator and stood up with a deep breath.

"Hawkins," She growled. "Get your lieutenant. Go to the human world. Locate Graystone, the anomaly and the vizards. Assess the situation and come back here so we can make plans to save Graystone. If you can free him, do so. But don't take any unnecessary risks."

"What about the vizards and the anomaly?" Richard asked professionally.

" The anomaly is to be kept alive, although you can rough him up as much as you want to. The masked freaks on the other hand are free game." Her voice turned more authoritive as she addressed the entire room. "Nobody tells the shinigami about this. We don't know where their allegiances lie." She turned to Richard. "Why are you still here?"

"Merely restraining my anger captain Erasmus. I'll be going right now." As he stood up the diminutive Beileag Greer entered with a happy shout.

"Not only am I the greatest fighter ever. I am now also the most brilliant carpenter ever. What's with all your faces?" Richard went by, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her along with him.

"Basically my dear Beileag, you and I are going hunting."

"Shouldn't I go too?" Lucy shrieked, halting all actions.

Evadne sent Lucy a chilling glare that made her want to sink into the floor.

"You're not going anywhere. Hawkins knows basic healing kido and that'll have to be enough until he gets Graystone back to us. Get going already Hawkins!" She roared the last part and the 3rd division duo moved along quickly

Lucy's jaw dropped. "But… but… I'm the medic and I…"

"You're a liability is what you are." Evadne stated plainly as though it was an obvious fact. "Besides you lack of use in a recognisance mission where a swift get away might be in order I believe that you've grown too close to our hosts, or at least some of them. And I don't feel like putting any more of the people under my command at risk because you wanted to have a fling."

What Lucy wanted to say, or scream rather, was that captain Erasmus was being a paranoid and insensitive asshole. What she ended up saying wasn't really any kind of word but more of a despairing whimper.

The dark haired captain sat down again and crossed her arms. "Go to your room and stay there until I ask for you."

Not wanting to remain in close vicinity of her superior any longer Lucy bolted away. Once she got to her room she slammed the door shut and threw herself on the bed crying as she cursed her own weakness and her commanders' cruelty. Her thoughts however were pleading to whom- or whatever might be listening.

"_Please. Just make sure that Michael is ok. Please._"

* * *

"So how's your training going?" Ichigo asked Sado lazily as they made their way to the entrance that led to Urahara's and the vizard's secret hideout.

"Good I think. Mostly it feels like they're waiting for something to happen while Mashiro-san beats me up. You ready for today?" A subtle note of concern laced the question.

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess. At least this time they won't…" Both of them halted mid-step and sharply turned around in the direction of rising reiatsu.

On top of a telephone pole stood an intimidating figure dressed in a black cloak with a hood that covered their face. The figure held a sharp-looking scythe with a straight black handle and a long blade that gleamed in the sun. For a few moments, that each seemed to stretch out into hours, they just stared at each other. Then the hooded figure took a single step forward and graciously fell to the ground, elegantly landing on their feet.

"Grim reaper." Sado muttered quietly as the figure slowly advanced on them.

"Yeah." Ichigo agreed tensely, not taking his eyes off the reaper. "Do you feel that?"

"Killing intent. But restrained somehow." Sado shifted his stance into a more battle-ready one.

Ichigo quickly stuck his hand into his chest-pocket and pulled out a tiny ball, barely the size of a pebble, and stuck it into his mouth. Just like that he was separated into two different bodies. One made out of reiatsu that contained his personality and shinigami powers. The other being his actual body, now inhabited by the mod soul known as Kon.

"Damnit Ichigo! Do you know how long I've been without a body because of your little sister! Show some consideration for…"

"Kon, run away." The seriousness in Ichigo's voice went unregistered with the mod soul.

"Why the hell would I do that when…?" He suddenly noticed the approaching grim reaper. "Oh."

"Run home, stay there until I come back. Make sure Karin and Yuzu are ok. And don't do anything stupid." Ichigo calmly ordered.

"Ehm, ok." Kon nervously muttered. "Don't get hurt or anything." He added before running off at top speed just as the grim reaper halted short distance away from the two teens.

With his unoccupied hand Richard pulled the hood back to reveal his smiling face to the tense duo. "Hello there. I'm Richard Hawkins and as you guys have probably guessed I am a grim reaper just like lieutenant Graystone."

"Yeah, we got that." Ichigo responded, not quite sure what to make of the situation. The feeling he sensed before wouldn't go away, despite Richard's kind outward appearance. "Ehm, about that guy. He's kind off…"

"Missing." Richard filled out. "We know. That's actually what I'm here to talk about." He tilted his head to the side. "Where is lieutenant Graystone exactly?"

Ichigo and Sado exchanged looks. "I just told you. He's missing. As in we don't know where he is." The strawberry haired vizard slowly moved his right hand up to the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"Of course you don't." He tilted his head to the other side. "So when was the last time you saw lieutenant Graystone."

"Four or five days ago. Right after we repelled an assault by a large number of gillians." Sado explained as honestly as possible.

"Then he showed up two days ago and attacked one of our friends." Ichigo added aggressively. To both young men's surprise, and Ichigo's annoyance, Richard didn't seem all that concerned about this information.

"Really now. And why pray tell did he do that?"

"Because tiny hollows had gotten into his body and taken possession of him!" Ichigo said sharply. Ichigo instantly realised how stupid that sounded and Richard's doubtful smirk made it apparent that he'd probably made their situation worse.

"Assuming that's what really happened," Richard said after taking a second or two to suppress a giggle. "That sounds like something I would report to some kind of authority. Why didn't you?"

"Because," Ichigo's voice faltered at the sillyness of what he was about to say. "The same tiny hollows have pretty much occupied the dangai precipice and we're not sure what would happen if we went in there."

"Ah, and how did you deduce this?" Richard asked with the most disturbing friendly smile Ichigo had ever seen.

"Ehm, well…" Not really trusting the grim reapers to begin with, especially this creepy one, Ichigo wasn't all that certain whether revealing his connection to a still rogue shinigami scientist. Unfortunately Ichigo didn't get the chance to mess things up with a crap lie.

"I'm going to assume that it was one mister Urahara Kisuke, former captain of the science division, who made this story up for you." Richard figured it out on his own and that was quite honestly much worse.

"While it is true that Urahara-san told us about this situation we can assure you that it is not a make-believe story Hawkins-san." Sado quickly threw in, realising that this was not a man they would be able to lie to.

Richard pretended to ponder the statement for a moment. "Sorry boys. I might've been inclined to believe you if it weren't for the fact that your informant is a long time fugitive. Or you know, the fact that I went through the dangai precipice just fine to get."

"Urahara-san's been cleared of the stuff that sent him into exile." Ichigo exclaimed. "It was Aizen Sosuke that framed him."

Richard's smile grew considerably in width. "You're correct. Aizen Sosuke did frame Urahara Kisuke for the crime of turning his colleagues into vizards through hollowfication. But even after being cleared of those charges the mysterious Urahara remains in exile and from what I can tell has hidden himself. Wouldn't you find that suspicious?"

Neither of the two teens had a good response to the argument. Ichigo could only curse the shop-keep for being so damn weird and untrusting in his head.

"And more pressingly the man did experiment with the hollowfication process. Now, I don't know how you easterners view those things. But we consider it to be a most heinous crime over in the west." At this point he stared rather intently at Ichigo, who by now was gripping his sword handle very tightly.

"So wait, what exactly do you want us to do now again?" The substitute shinigami questioned uncomfortably like one tends to do in stressful situations you can't wrap your head around just yet.

"I just want you to tell me where lieutenant Graystone is. For real this time." Richard happily answered.

"We've already done that. And we're not going to change our story just because you don't believe us." Ichigo's aggressive response made Richard narrow his eyes and smile more business-like. Even his tone became more sombre.

"Very well, then you're going to have to come with me for further questioning." The authority in the grim reaper's voice made it clear that it was an order and nothing less.

An order that Ichigo wasn't about to follow. "Ain't gonna happen."

Determined and fierce eyes clashed momentarily with a carefree and amused gaze. Richard chuckled. "You know," He started while subtle tightening the grip on his scythe. "Most of my colleagues would be really annoyed with you at this point for causing a slight delay with your selfish protest. But not me." He brought the scythe up and placed his left hand of the bottom part of the handle. "It just means I get to hurt you that much earlier." Then he attacked.

Stepping in with a speed befitting a captain Richard swung the scythe horizontally, aiming at Ichigo's throat. The strawberry haired teen reacted instantly by pulling his zanpakuto out of its bindings to counter the attack. However, before they'd find out whether Ichigo had reacted quickly enough he was roughly pulled back by Sado who simultaneously moved towards Richard, throwing a heavy left punch at the grey haired captain.

Richard blinked as he observed the large young man's fist heading in the direction of his face with the force of a charging semi-truck and a speed that normal humans wouldn't be able to perceive. He considered just dodging it but decided that he didn't really need to after catching some movement in his peripheral vision.

As he was inches from connecting with the attack it was Sado's turn to be pulled back to safety by Ichigo just in time to avoid having his hand chopped off by Beileag's crashing downward slash, which sliced straight through the streets after missing its mark.

Regaining their composure, Ichigo and Sado took a moment to stare in surprise at the short but fierce looking new arrival as she took a defensive position in front of her captain. "Just try it." She growled in her native language.

"Thank you lieutenant Greer." Richard politely said as he walked up beside her. "You deal with the big fellow while I take care of the anomaly."

"Yes sir." She replied steadfastly and took a fighting position, holding her war-scythe like a spear. Unlike Richard she'd skipped on wearing the black hooded cloak and looked frighteningly professional in her suit.

Ichigo understood them just well enough to get the basics of their conversation. "Look, we don't want to fight you."

Richard smirked. "Then you should've cooperated." And with that the two grim reapers sprung into action, rushing down their opponents. Richard went for an upward swing that Ichigo managed to block with Zangetsu, but the force behind the blow was enough to lift the younger fighter off the ground and send him flying into the air. With a great leap Richard followed him.

Beileag stabbed at Sado's face while he backed away quickly. She still almost landed a hit and pressed on the attack so that Sado had to weave his head from side to side to avoid getting it skewered. While doing this a skin-like black armour enveloped his right arm.

At that point the red-haired reaper leaped into the air, shifted her grip on her weapon and slammed the blade down on Sado as one would a sledge-hammer. Using the strong defensive properties of his right arm Sado managed to block the blow, though the strength behind it forced him down on one knee, and with a mighty push he swept Beileag's zanpakuto out of her hands, sending it flying to the other side of the street.

Getting back up on his feet Sado was convinced that his opponent would be easier to subdue when bereft of her weapon. But as her feet touched ground again it became apparent that it actually didn't bother her at all. Without missing a beat she leapt towards the larger boy, flipped in the air and double-kicked him in the chest. Caught off guard Sado was sent flying down the street and through a building wall. He thanked the heavens that the vizard had chosen an area with mostly abandoned buildings to hide out in.

Not even turning back to pick up her weapon Beileag stalked down the street with tightened fists. "If you know what's best for you, you'll stay down and tell me everything you and your freak friends have done to Michael!" She ordered, not considering whether or not Sado might understand her.

The darkness in the building Sado had entered rather roughly gave him a decent cover so that Beileag wasn't quite prepared for his response.

"El Directo!" The shout was followed by a massive blast of blue reiatsu that exploded from the hole, widening it considerably. Surprised by the counter attack Beileag just barely had time put up her arms and catch the blast with her bare hands.

She tried to hold her ground against it but was pushed back far down the sidewalk. Long trenches were torn up where her feet strained against the ground. Suddenly her back slammed into a wall and the blast pushed past her hands and exploded upon contact with her, destroying a larger section of the two story building.

Sado walked out into the street, hoping that his fight had ended quickly so that he could go and help Ichigo. But knowing how these things usually turn out he was not surprised when the dust of the collapsed building dispersed from his diminutive opponent powering up her reiatsu so viciously that a bright green glow surrounded her.

Her purple headband had cracked right down the middle and both ends fell to the ground leaving her hair messier than usual. The gloves had been burned away leaving Beileag's palms blackened and bloodied. Her coat sleeves had gone the way of her gloves and overall she was covered in bruises and dirt. In most normal situations damages to this extent would be a cause of minor internal celebration for Beileag's opponent.

But right now her furious expression and the violent reiatsu she was emitting gave Sado the feeling that he was facing off with a wounded animal ready to pounce on the cause of her injury. A shield-shaped extension grew out of Sado's right arm while his left arm was enveloped by a white skin-like armour and he prepared for the worst.

They moved as one. Beileag rushed to her soul slayer and Sado moved to intercept her. The short girl reached the destination first so Sado attempted to strike at her while she was picking up the war scythe. Once again Beileag was one step ahead and managed to leap high into the air while Sado's fist smashed into the pavement. He followed after her, not intending to give the lieutenant a moment's pause.

At the peak of her jump Beileag started spinning her war scythe above her head and the command she shouted carried the full force of her rage. "Slam, Branch of Demolition!"

Sado's eyes widened as the war scythe's handle expanded in all directions, lost its blade and smoothed out until it became a … long caber that he couldn't understand how somebody so small would wield effectively. Those thought immediately disappeared as the red-head expertly swung the caber down at him, using the spinning to give it more momentum and power. Sado blocked the blow with his shield but was still sent careening to the streets again. Beileag followed, her over-sized weapon held above her head, with a sadistic grin on face.

Still in the air were Ichigo and Richard as they clashed their blades against one another in a struggle for dominance. A struggle that Ichigo felt he was losing. Inbetween dodging, countering and blocking Richard was scoring tiny, almost insignificant hits all over Ichigo, giving him shallow and stinging cuts.

As Ichigo was backing away the grim reaper stepped in and went for a wide sweep at the substitute shinigami's midsection. Ichigo managed to block the blow but it was strong enough to make him lose his balance for a split second. It was a split second that Richard used effectively.

The grey haired captain pulled his scythe back, shifted his grip on it, spun it around a little for dramatic effect and then slashed Ichigo's face. All before the teen could react accurately, he managed to duck to the side quick enough to only get a small cut on his right cheek. Once again Ichigo backed away to regain his senses. But Richard was quick to follow with a downward slash aimed at Ichigo's left shoulder. This time however Ichigo stopped the attack entirely with Zangetsu, putting the two of them in a fierce pushing match.

"You're kind of disappointing kid." Richard said casually. "I mean, yeah the raw power is there. But where's your edge?" Ichigo just glared in retaliation. "Aren't you at least gonna show me your true face, monster?"

"You're the one who forcing this fight. I'd much rather talk this out." Ichigo retorted and with a surge of power managed to push Richard away so that he skidded a few meters through the air.

"Isn't that funny?" The prison warden flashed stepped up to his opponent. This time Ichigo was prepared for the attack and matched it. Their blades clashed violently and repeatedly. Within moments the two were caught inside a veritable sphere of blurring motions and sparks from when the sword and scythe slammed into each other.

Despite the aggressive display Richard was able to continue the conversation casually. "I started this out with polite conversation and then you forced my hand." He added a little more force to a blow aimed at Ichigo's chest. The strawberry haired teen blocked it but was sent reeling. "Now you're complaining because we're not talking." He continued as he followed Ichigo.

To the vizard it looked like Richard had his hands and scythe behind his back when suddenly his right arm moved in a blurry motion towards the shinigami. Ichigo tried to leap back but failed to take the scythe's length into account and got cut across the chest.

"You're a very befuddling boy Kurosaki Ichigo." The grim reaper mocked with a pleased grin and went for an incapacitating blow.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Bright blue reiatsu spewed out of Ichigo as he intercepted his opponents attack with a powerful slash. Caught off guard, Richard was sent crashing into a rooftop.

"Eugh. Agh. That was… more like it." Richard groaned as he forced himself up on his legs.

As he started stretching lightly Ichigo appeared above him.

"Anybody ever tell you that you're really annoying?" He asked with his patented frown.

"Varies from person to person." Richard answered conversationally. "My previous lieutenant was very open about it. But he's just a big non-fun grump and anyway this isn't about me." He sent Ichigo a sinister smile. "It's about you telling me what I want to know."

Ichigo remained silent and assessed the situation. He was holding back uncharacteristically enough for several reasons. First of all, he was sincere in that he didn't want to fight. This was all a big misunderstanding that could be resolved if they just talked things through. Unfortunately the grim reaper seemed determined to treat Ichigo like a criminal and disbelieve everything he said.

Secondly, the strawberry haired teen didn't entirely trust his own powers. With a defunct bankai Ichigo wouldn't be able to match Richard if he pulled out his, Ichigo assumed that the grim reapers had an equivalent to bankai. And since his vizard mask was only working in shorter bursts nowadays he would much rather save it for emergencies. Of course, that might provoke the grim reaper to step things up a notch and he was already being a troublesome adversary.

Even if Ichigo was holding back his own power that wasn't the main reason he was at a disadvantage. There was something strange about Richard's fighting style. Ichigo could follow his movements and act accordingly most of the time. The western captain was fast, but not so fast that Ichigo couldn't react whenever he moved in for a strike or away to get some space. It was when they were engaged in close quarters that things got complicated. It got difficult to perceive the scythe's movements and Ichigo had to make several split second dodges to avoid getting injuries more serious than the number of dripping wounds he already sported.

Ichigo racked his short-term memory to figure out what it was about the grim reaper's style that was causing him such problems. Then it dawned on him.

"Well," Richard started as he got into an offensive stance. "If that marks the end of our scintillating conversation I propose that we resume our violent exchange."

"Your hands are faster than the rest of your body." Ichigo threw out quickly, making Richard stumble a little as he was forced to halt himself rather uncomfortably.

"Pardon?" The grey haired man looked genuinely surprised. If Ichigo felt any delight at this he didn't show it.

"As fast as you are your hands, and probably your arms, are faster. It makes you really dangerous up close as your opponent thinks that you're movements are gonna be fairly ordinary."

The grim reaper captain tilted his head to the side, still looking surprised. Then his mouth curved into a wide grin. "Much better. Much, much better. You're right of course." He twirled the scythe around at blurring speed in his left hand, transferred it over to his right hand before Ichigo could notice and swiped at the corner of the roof so quickly that both his arm and scythe appeared to be invisible. A second later the edge of the corner slid off and dropped to the ground. "For you consideration, I'm also ambidexterous."

"Neat trick." Ichigo said unimpressed. "If only I could just hit you from a distance."

Richard chuckled. "You can totally do that can't you?"

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" With Zangetsu's tip pointed at his grey haired enemy Ichigo unleashed a massive blast of white blue energy that ripped the roof apart and destroyed the top half of the neighbouring building.

"Ooh." Ichigo heard from behind him and turned around. Richard was standing in mid-air. His hooded coat had been blasted off and the rest of his clothes and hair were all messed up as smoked billowed from his being. "You can blow stuff up with a big energy blast. It's not like I know a dozen or so people that can do that, including myself by saying Blue Fire." He stretched out a palmed hand and launched a blue fireball that blew up a giant hole in the street. "I've never seen an ability like that." Richard mocked.

Ichigo shrugged. "Whatever works. Getsuga…" Ichigo started and pointed Zangetsu at Richard once again.

The grim reaper smirked. "Harvest, Ripper." His scythe shined completely purple for a moment. The blade elongated itself as it became thinner and three bumps appeared along the handle.

"…tenshou!" The blast blocked Ichigo's view of Richard so he didn't see what happened when the grim reaper calmly but clearly called out.

"Slicing Wire!" The energy blast was ripped in half from the middle and Ichigo side-stepped instinctively. Not a moment later something purple flashed by his eyes and the remains of the building he was standing on were cut down the middle.

The two locked eyes and Ichigo got a good look at the released form of Richard's soul slayer. It was still a scythe but with different proportions. The blade now had a golden colour, along with a tiny shimmer of purple reiatsu, a leftover from his attack. It ended in a circular attachment that was the size of a small plate and connected to the top of the handle. Like the blade the handle had grown a bit longer and thinner, yet somehow it seemed sturdier. Three ornamental rings were evenly distributed from the bottom to a short bit below the circular attachment.

"Fancy weapon you got there." Ichigo muttered, annoyed that his own special ability had been countered.

"Thanks. Did you see what I did there? Maybe not. Best show it again then." The grey haired reaper placed his right hand up top and his left further down and hefted it back. "Slicing Wire." He called out while smirking sinisterly.

With a wide horizontal slice the captain sent a razor-thin line of purple energy in Ichigo's direction.

"Getsuga tenshou!" Ichigo tried to counter with his own horizontal slash and energy wave, hoping the previous clash was a fluke.

It wasn't.

The getsuga was split apart as the energy-wire went through it undeterred, continuing towards its target.

Ichigo quickly leaped above it and was intercepted mid-air by Richard slashing down on him. The human managed to deflect it with his zanpakuto but to his dismay the clash between the weapons had left a deep cut in Zangetsu. Ichigo leaped back with a cold sweat thinking that Richard would follow.

Luckily the prison warden seemed to be more interested in chuckling and gloating than in continuing the fight. "I guess I should tell you about my little trick here and how Ripper can cut stuff on even a molecular level and blah blah blah. But really I just like seeing you scared like this so I'm not going to do that. I am going to tell you that even in this form Ripper has a few more tricks." The sinister smirk returned. "Let's see if you'll last long enough to see them."

Richard charged at Ichigo whose body tensed up at the difficulty of the situation. He'd lose in a ranged battle and a victory in close combat would difficult to achieve. He really hated fighting against annoying and tricky bastards like this. Nevertheless he didn't back down, determined to pretty much just beat up the grim reaper and tie him up until he would believe their story.

As the two fighters were about to collide a rapidly spinning caber with one end smoking flew between them, putting a halt to any assault. A second later Richard stuck out an arm and caught his short red headed lieutenant by the scruff of her shirt as she sailed screaming through the air.

"Thank you captain." Beileag breathed out with a voice that mixed frustration with gratitude. She'd gained a black eye and in addition to her previous bruises.

Richard sighed. "Why haven't you won yet?"

"The human is stronger than he looks. What about you? You're still fighting too." She accused with an exasperated voice.

"I'm was just about to cut him up when… where'd he go?" The two reapers quickly scanned the area for Ichigo's reiatsu and found him down at ground level where Sado was. Richard blinked in annoyance. "Get your soul slayer and return as fast as you can lieutenant Greer. It's about time we took these little boys down." He rudely tossed Greer in the same general direction as her weapon and speed down to their prey.

* * *

"Chad! Are you ok. Sorry, dumb question." Ichigo gritted through his teeth as he supported his large friend. Blood trickled down Sado's face from a large bruise on his head. The shield on his right arm had several cracks in it and the knuckles on his left hand were bloodied, he could barely bend the fingers all the way.

"Wounded body and pride. I don't think I can beat her Ichigo." Sado admitted followed by a pained grunt. "I got in a lucky hit that gave me a few minutes but it messed me up as well. What about you?"

"I could be doing better. As my powers are right now I doubt I can match him all the way." As Ichigo and Sado conversed Richard touched down on the street, torn up by the battle, and approached the duo at a brisk pace.

"I bet that guy likes to play with his food." Ichigo muttered.

"Wouldn't your mask give you the power needed to win this battle." Sado suggested as he found his footing.

"Maybe, but I bet he'd just upgrade to bankai and with the time limit on my mask already decreased I don't think it'd end well for me."

"Then beat him before that happens." Sado encouraged. They shared a look. Ichigo sighed.

"I can't see any other way really. Stand back." Ichigo marched towards the grim reaper and soon enough they started running with their weapons pulled back and readied to strike.

The older combatant's gleeful expression met Ichigo determined scowl in belief that they'd simply continue their clash. Then Ichigo reached for the top of his head and with a burst of black and red reiatsu that covered his entire body the vizard mask materialised over his face.

At first Richard was surprised and went through the motions of his intended attack. A swing of his dangerous soul slayer was easily stopped when Ichigo caught it just below the blade with his left hand. Ichigo kicked the captain in the gut, making his let go of the scythe and go flying across the street and into a building wall.

"Heh heh heh… ow." Richard chuckled. As he opened his eyes again he saw Ichigo crashing through the sky with a getsuga powering his double-handed slash.

Richard tried to keep a straight face. "_That's it. Come to papa._" He taunted in his head as he reached into a pocket on the inside of his suit.

He narrowly rolled away from the attack as it demolished the wall he'd leaned against seconds earlier. Richard jumped into a crouching positioned and launched himself at the vizard, ducking under a wide sword-sweep.

Shifting his sword around to cut his opponent across the back Ichigo felt an unexpected stab of pain in his gut that stopped him dead.

Richard's triumphant face shot up in front of the vizard. "Got ya freak." He jumped back and regarded Ichigo like an artist would view his latest painting from a different angle.

Ichigo stared down and saw a strange flat black blade with a dark green rim sticking out of his abdomen. Instead of blood seeping out of the wound there was a shining vapour. Normally Ichigo would barely notice such a tiny wound and certainly not stop at it. But this was different. A nerve-wrecking pain coursed through his body and made him feel sick to the stomach. It was as if his reiatsu was at war with the rest of his body. His mask started to crumble.

"What… did you… do to me?" He spat out as he dropped Zangetsu.

"Let's just say that having two different kinds of reiatsu active in your body isn't all that fun when your enemy has a way of disturbing the balance between them." The reaper stuck his tongue out which only infuriated Ichigo.

"You freaking little…" He attempted to defy whatever it was that the strange blade was doing to him by powering through it. Unfortunately that seemed to cause a backlash that made his own energies blow up in his face with enough so forcibly that the shockwave collapsed the building next to him.

The smoke cleared revealing Ichigo's charred body and his blank face of unconsciousness. His masked had shattered into spiritual dust and he fell face-first into the ground.

"Well, that was invigorating." Richard said with a hint of finality. He walked over to Ichigo without a hint of fear or nervousness. Only stopping when a shout came from his side.

"ICHIGO!" Sado rushed at the captain with his left first raised for a devastating blow powered by a huge amount of focused spiritual energy.

"Oh yeah. You're still here." Richard quipped when Sado was within hearing distance. Not a moment later Beileag slammed her entire caber into the large teen from up above. "You'd think he'd look up a little bit more. Nicely done lieutenant Greer."

"Thanks captain." Beileag responded, evidently pleased with herself as she reverted the caber back into her sealed war-scythe. "Should we take both of them back to HQ?"

Richard pondered the pros and cons for a moment. "Yeah, let's do that. It's better if we don't leave anybody that can warn the rest of the freaks about what we're ARRGHK." Richard was cut short as a swift assailant kicked the side of his face so hard that he was sent flying back to where Ichigo had kicked him.

Impressively enough Beileag wasn't stunned by the newcomer or what happened to her captain. Instead she simply tried to stab the assailant. But this person moved so fast that the short lieutenant could only see a vaguely humanoid black shape disappeared before her eyes before she felt a foot crash down on her head and smash her face deep into the ground.

Regaining his wits quickly enough, Richard flash-stepped back to the new opponent, picking up his scythe along the way. He reached his destination just as the newcomer was busy picking up Ichigo, having already done so with Sado.

"Well, well, well. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" He said in an effectively charming and slightly lustful voice as he eyed up Yoruichi who was still decked out in her sexy teacher outfit, though the tight skirt had been ripped a little due to the kicks and she'd disgarded her shoes.

"Why thank you. I do try to look my best at all times." Yoruichi said with an inappropriately flirty voice.

"I kind of need at least one of those two brats so if you wouldn't mind handing over the carrot-top I won't hunt you down for being a renegade." The grim reaper said with a polite voice and friendly smile which Yoruichi matched perfectly.

"Sorry. No can do. He's got an appointment with a mad scientist and I'm gonna make sure he gets to it in time."

"Ah." Richard nodded, not missing a beat. "Then we have a problem."

Yoruichi shifted Ichigo around a little across her shoulder. "That we do."

They stared at each other with big smirks for what would seem like an eternity to anybody observing them. Then Beileag recovered and tore herself from the street. "I'm gonna tear you…"

She was interrupted by the gust of wind from her captain charging off with a slash that Yoruichi managed to avoid with her usual speed, even if it was hampered by the two teens she was carrying. The grim reaper was about to leap after her when a large shadow appeared above him. He quickly leaped back just a giant mace smashed up a giant crater.

"There's always something isn't there." Richard groaned as he observed a man with sun-glasses, dark hair shaped like a stark and wearing a green track suit lifting the massive weapon like it was nothing and jumping through the air in Richard's direction. He leaped high into the air to give himself some more space.

"What the hell is going on!" Beileag roared confused while staring up at the two fighters making herself incredibly easy to catch off-guard.

"MASHIRO SUPER-PUNCH!" Beileag looked in the direction of the strange shout just in time for a gloved fist hit her face hard and sent her flying high into the air until she crashed onto a rooftop.

"Seems like your subordinate has been taken care of." The strangely garbed man told Richard who leaped over another swing of the large mace.

"She'll just be pissed. Just like you'll be dead. Slicing Wire!" Richard launched his attack with the intent of finishing the fight quickly. His opponent just raised a confident eyebrow.

"Please." The mace-wielder muttered and blocked the energy wire with his zanpakuto. Both fighters eyes grew in surprise as the wire was dispersed and a long gash was torn up on the side of the mace.

"_That thing wasn't sliced in half._" Richard thought in disbelief.

His opponent had similar thoughts. "_He actually damaged Tengumaru._"

They narrowed their eyes and cautiously backed up in the air while assuming defensive positions as the same thought went through their minds.

"_This guy is strong._"

A fit, spandex wearing green haired girl with a cross expression landed next to Richard's opponent. "Why haven't you kicked his ass already Love!"

Love scoffed. "He's a western captain Mashiro. It's to be expected that he's…"

"Who cares! He and the dwarf hurt Ichigo and Chado-kun! They must die!" Mashiro screeched impatiently.

"What's she saying?" Beileag screeched equally impatiently as she jumped up next to Richard. "Is she saying something about me!" Blood flowed from her damaged nose.

"She's just confirming what I already know about their kind." The captain started in their native language before switching to Japanese. "You're all ticking time-bombs with no regard for anybody but your loathsome selves." It was quite remarkable how the prison warden was capable of making two people he'd never met hate him so instantaneously. "If you had any sense of decency in your body you'd commit seppuku."

"Ok Mashiro," Love said with restrained anger. "Let's do it your way."

Richard hefted Ripper in both hands. "Get ready lieutenant Greer. The freaks are about to get serious."

Tensions and spiritual pressure rose in the air and all of them twitched, edging for a fight. The grim reapers carrying themselves with fury and businesslike glee respectively while the vizards both wore serious frustration as their attitude du jour.

Then Love's lips curved into a smirk. "Got ya." He taunted as a white see-through box shaped barrier materialised around the two stupefied reapers. Just as they were about to cut through it the barrier exploded in a bright firework-like display and they were both nowhere to be seen.

"Nice Hacci." Love commented to the large, pink-haired man that appeared behind where the grim reapers had been standing as he resealed Tengumaru. "Where did you send them?"

"To the other side of the city. It's the farthest I could manage without endangering their well-being." Hacci answered softly.

"The way that guy was talking I wouldn't have minded if he'd been a bit endangered." Love said bitterly. "Let's get back to the other before those two return." With that the three vizard blurred away not knowing that they were abut to be put through the most exhaustive evening of their lives so far.

* * *

Like Hachi said Richard and Beileag appeared out of thin air on the other side of Karakura town. The attacks they'd meant for their transport just sliced a wooden fence to bits, terrifying several pedestrians.

"Well, that's embarrassing." The taller reaper muttered. "Captain Erasmus is going to shout my ears off for this."

"Screw reporting to her then. Let's just go back, find them all and kick their asses!" Beileag screamed at the top of her lungs, earning her a dull look from her captain.

"You really think we can do that. They outnumber us by a great margin. We're lucky that more of them didn't show up." He took a deep breath. "I'm afraid that we're going to have to call in the reinforcements a bit earlier than expected."

Beileag's eyes went wide with terror. "NO! Not those guys! Come on! We don't need them!"

"You know that's not true." Richard countered.

"But I hate them." The short girl whined.

"Do you want to save lieutenant Graystone or not?"

Beileag fidgeted uncertainly at the remark before exhaling in defeat. "Fine. But it won't make me like them any more."

"Fair enough." Richard sighed. "Come on. Let's take a look over the city again before re report in." He flash-stepped into the air while Beileag remained behind to mutter some more.

"Stupid second division snobs. They better be useful." She muttered under her breath disappeared in a blur with a singular thought propelling her on. "_Hang in there Michael. We're coming._"

* * *

**There we go. I'm sorry that the fight wasn't three chapters long as per he usual Bleach length but I felt that it had gone on for long enough. I promise you that the next chapter will be out much sooner. I look forward to writing it as I'll get to use one of my favourite Bleach villains of all time.**

**Now have a safe new years celebration after you've reviewed.**


	15. Desperate battle within the hero's soul

**Lesson to everybody. Don't read a character analysis that makes you re-evaluate your view of a character who has a big part in the fanfic chapter you're writing. Especially not when you've already on your second re-write of said chapter. Anyway, here it finally is. Thank you all for your patience. It's light on OCs and heavy on three of my favourite characters in the cannon series.**

**So sit back, read and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter of Grim Visitors.**

* * *

"Where are they?"

Kisuke had never felt such a sense of command coming from the dainty Inoue Orihime. Nor had he ever seen her move with such resolve. There was a hint of despair in her eyes but she seemed to ignore it. He couldn't help but smirk a little proudly as he walked up to her and the three dark haired teens following her.

"Sado-kun's ok. His injuries were serious but fairly standard so Hachi-san could heal him up just fine." The shop-keep's expression grew serious. "Ichigo is another matter entirely."

Orihime whimpered worriedly before she could stop herself. Tatsuki placed a hand on the healer's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

Rukia decided to take the lead. "Just take us to him." She demanded and the hat clad scientist mutely complied.

The group walked to the middle of the huge stone area where Ichigo had been laid out on a mattress. Hachigen and Tessai stood on either side with their eyes firmly on the unconscious teen. They seemed on edge, as though they were ready to react on a moment's notice. Sado was sitting on the ground, using a nearby rock for support. Mashiro sat on the rock picking dirt out of his hair, resembling a monkey. Yoruichi, Shinji and Hiyori stood next to them with their arms crossed as they too observed Ichigo's still form. The rest of the vizards sat further away, busy reading the week's manga. They knew when they would be needed.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime broke off from the group and hurried to Ichigo's side. Blood had seeped out of the small cuts all over his body, mixed with the dirt and dried up. Though he was unconscious he still had a pained expression, most likely caused by the strange blade that was sticking out of his gut. A shiny white vapour steadily streamed out of the wound. Instinctively she got down on her knees and moved to remove the blade but Tessai stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that Inoue-san. At least not just yet." The former Kido corps captain warned simply.

"What happened?" Uryu asked when he walked up to Sado.

"Two grim reapers attacked us. They believe that we have something to do with the missing lieutenant Graystone." Sado explained. He tried to stand up but was pushed down by Mashiro.

"I suppose that you told them the truth and they didn't believe you." Tatsuki said with a frustrated voice. Sado made an affirmative noise.

"And while that does make our long-term situation a fair bit more troublesome, I suggest that we focus on the incapacitated Kurosaki-san for the moment." Urahara said, gaining everyones' attention. "See, the problem is that weird little blade that one of the reapers stuck into him. Whenever we tried to heal the minor injuries with kido, Kurosaki-san's reiatsu would react rather violently and reject our attempts. And we have no idea about what's going to happen if we remove it"

He turned to Sado. "Now, you said that that he was stabbed while wearing his mask?"

Sado nodded. "Yes. I didn't quite hear all of it but it seems like the blade is meant to somehow turn the dual natured powers of a vizard against them."

Urahara stroke his chin and walked over to Ichigo and the strange weapon, clearly fascinated by it. "An ingenious little killing device. Wonder how they made it."

"Who cares?" Shinji exclaimed and glared at the strange weapon. "It can mess us up and I want it out of here right now."

"Oh, I agree completely." Urahara lied and cringed inwardly at the idea of destroying something he could examine and play with. "But to do that we have to pluck it out of Ichigo here and you know what usually happens when we try to do things we actually know anything about with him."

"I'm gonna guess that stuff blows up." Tatsuki wagered.

"Stuff blows up." Hiyori confirmed.

"Big boom." Mashiro added as she continued grooming Sado's hair.

"Something like that. So I'd rather take a few precautions before pulling out the scary anti-vizard weapon which we only know is a scary anti-vizard weapon." Urahara reasoned. "So without any delay here's my improvised and simple but naturally brilliant stratagem for doing so."

"He's always like this isn't he?" Tatsuki whispered to Uryu.

"You get used to it." The quincy deadpanned. "Especially after he's helped you out in various ways."

"Now, I'm going to pull this thing out of Ichigo. At that exact moment I want you Inoue-san," Orihime straightened her back and steeled herself for her task. "To start healing him. Regular healing spells have proven ineffective but I believe there's a good chance of your powers working as you'd reject his condition and whatever happens when I pull the blade out all together. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll tr…" She took a deep breath. "Of course."

Urahara smiled. "Good. Tessai and Hachigen will be right here to regulate and protect you from any possible violent reactions from the reiatsu."

"Wait!" Tatsuki bellowed and stomped over to her best friend. "How big a risk is there that she might get hurt doing this exactly?"

Urahara blinked. "I honestly don't know. This is a rather unique situation after all. You do want Kurosaki-san do be healed don't you?"

Tatsuki blanched. "Of course I do! But shouldn't she be wearing… I don't know, a protective radiation suit or something."

"Tatsuki-chan." Orihime gripped her friend's hand. "It'll be fine." The strawberry haired girl sent a shining smile to her friend.

Tatsuki hesitated for a moment. "Fine!" She planted herself on the ground to Orihime's right with crossed legs. "But I'm not moving an inch until it's over."

Before Orihime or Urahara could protest Rukia similarly sat down on Orihime's left side. "Indeed. We'll be right here. Just in case."

As the shop-keep just sighed in acceptance Shinji tried to hide a pout. "A guy could get jealous for less ya know." He muttered as the three girls got comfortable in sitting close to Ichigo's prone body.

"Yeah, well. You got shorty here." Yoruichi teased and nodded at Hiyori.

"Who are you calling short!" The short blonde shrieked.

"That ain't much to have really." The former captain said, not at all bothered that he'd just insulted a comrade. He got kicked in the head for it.

"Ok then." Urahara started as he got into position to pull the blade out of Ichigo. Orihime held out her arms ready to start healing him, with Rukia and Tatsuki placing their hands on her shoulders. And the two former kido corps captain and lieutenant prepared for whatever might happen. "On three. One. Two. Three!"

As one Urahara pulled out the strange anti-vizard weapon and Orihime summoned her healing powers. Instantly, bright blue reiatsu began spilling out of Ichigo's entire body, crashing against the golden cover.

"AH!" Orihime shrieked as she felt the backlash of Ichigo's reiatsu violently reacting to her powers. It was worse than even trying to revive the five arrancar. That had been a massive wall that she'd needed all her strength to break through. But it had been passive and only stood in her way. This time however Ichigo's reiatsu was actively lashing out at her and it seemed to be getting worse the longer she went on.

As her pod began to crack Tessai and Hachigen moved to help but Tatsuki gripped Orihime's shoulder firmly. "Come on Orihime! Are you going to give up just because of this!"

"No!" Orihime shouted. "Not yet!" She steeled herself and refocused on the task at hand. With pure willpower she forced the canopy to mend itself and the torrent of spiritual energy to move back. The two kido specialist stared in awe and moved back again.

"Whoa." Yoruichi breathed out. "That's impressive."

"Yeah." Shinji agreed. "Reality-rejecting powers should be impressive when used to their full potential."

At first it seemed to be working. Orihime's powers and resolve were winning out and Ichigo's normal wounds were healing up quite nicely. "_I can really do this._" The healer thought happily.

Then a dark and menacing reiatsu began leaking out of the main injury at an increasingly rapid speed. It mixed in together with the teen's usual spiritual pressure, twisted and warped around beneath the canopy and then renewed its attack. This time it smashed through the golden barrier instantly, sending its splinters up into the air. The force knocked Tatsuki, Rukia, Tessai and Hachi into the air and a fair bit away from Ichigo's body.

Not so with Orihime. She was grabbed by the dark reiatsu and her hands were dragged to Ichigo's chest and kept there. Before she could do anything more than yelp in shock and confusion the reiatsu formed a twister around the two strawberry haired teens. It dragged the shattered remains of Orihime's healing canopy along with it as the whole thing was sucked into Ichigo's chest, showering the girl in a sickening mix of spiritual energies.

With a loud boom the strange event ended and Orihime collapsed next to Ichigo's body.

"Shit!" Tatsuki cursed as she and Rukia hurried over their friends. "What the hell just happened!" She demanded from the strange gathering of people she'd just started hanging out with.

The vizards all looked around awkwardly and confused as whatever just happened had never actually happened before.

"Well?" Tatsuki commanded once she and Rukia had made sure that Orihime was ok, if unconscious and unresponsive.

All eyes turned to Urahara who started feeling crowded as everybody in the large hideout moved closer to him. He took a deep breath and prepared to be chewed out for not having an answer.

"You know how I said that the previous situation was pretty much unique and therefore I didn't really know if it was safe or not?" Urahara asked casually.

"Yeah." Tatsuki said irritably.

"Compared to this that situation is incredibly routine and downright predictable." Urahara exaggerated. "I mean! A human soul with the powers of a vizard, powers he shouldn't even really have at this point I might add," As the shop-keep ranted on Tatsuki heard a faint rustling coming from Ichigo's body.

"Huh." She turned around and instantly she froze up at the sight.

"Gets stabbed with a weapon designed to screw around with the powers of a vizard and it knocks him into a coma." Urahara continued.

Ichigo was getting back up. But not in the traditional sense. His body had floated off the ground and into an upright position with his head hanging limply by his chest. "Ehm. Guys." Tatsuki muttered a bit quietly.

"Then said unprecedented individual in said unique situation is healed by another human who got powers from a wish-fulfilling god jewel, powers that quite frankly are insane once you start thinking about the possible applications." He ranted on.

"Why won't anybody just look this way?" Tatsuki said a little louder. She got a bad feeling from the floating Ichigo, who was now surrounded by a faint red aura.

"Only when she tries to heal him something, I don't know what, goes wrong and the whole thing explodes. No. That's too common a word. Twists and warps itself into blasting everybody except her away from his unconscious body for reasons I can't possibly tell you."

"**We have a floating unconscious human soul with vizard powers over here so stop listening to the weirdo-scientist already!**" Tatsuki bellowed, finally drawing the attention of the assembled group.

As they turned around the aura around Ichigo's body intensified and a wind strong enough to force everybody to brace themselves from getting knocked over started roaring up from him. When the winds finally died down Ichigo touched down on the ground again. His head snapped up and his eyes opened. For a brief moment they could all see his eyes. They were no longer those of a human. They had gone black with yellow irises. And then a massive burst of dark reiatsu poured out of the human vizard.

Everybody present shielded their eyes from the dust kicked up from the blast. When they lowered their arms to see again Ichigo had changed. He was decked out in his bankai shikutso and held Tensa Zangetsu in his right hand. His skin had turned as white as fresh snow and his hair had grown long enough to reach his waist. Red tufts of hair had grown around his wrists and around his neck. A hollow-like hole could be seen through the opened coat. Claws had grown on his hands and feet. And then there was the mask. It was skull-shaped and covered his entire head with two black vertical lines that stretched across the eyes and a pair of large forward-pointed horns topped it off.

"No." Uryu whispered, his voice trembling in despair. "Not again."

The hollowfied Ichigo slowly glared at the crowd and then he roared.

* * *

"Uhh… what happened?" Orihime mumbled. She rubbed her head and managed to get up on her knees. Her vision was blurry and her short-term memory hazy. When the world started looking more high-res she could see that there was a clear blue sky reaching far above her. There were two things about this that Orihime found strange.

For one thing she was pretty certain that she'd been inside when she was knocked out. The other thing was that the sky she was looking at had an unnatural feel to it. It just felt bigger than the sky should realistically be and yet it didn't worry her. Rather, the strange sky felt very reassuring to gaze at.

Pulling her eyes away from the sky Orihime took in her surroundings. To her surprise she was apparently on the rooftop of a very tall skyscraper in a veritable sea of equally tall buildings. The healer's eyes expanded in astonishment. "Where… where am I?"

She cautiously got up on her feet when a voice from behind her completely woke her up from her slightly dazed stupor.

"_**Well. Well. Well. What an interesting development this is.**_"

"Ichigo!" She missed it. The difference in their voices that is. When she turned around expecting to see her crush standing in front of her all ready to get them out of this strange situation she was sorely disappointed.

He looked like Ichigo in his shikai mode. But the colour of his skin, hair and clothes were all stark white. The eyes were black with yellow irises. His zanpakuto was held lazily so that it went across his shoulders, showing Orihime that it was an inverted version of Ichigo's Zangetsu. This not-Ichigo person's mouth form a wicked grin that sent haunting chills down her spine and the way he stared at her terrified the girl. Besides the fact that he looked like a negative version of Ichigo there was something about him that seemed terrifyingly familiar and made it very tempting for her to try to jump over to another roof-top.

He marched forward with cocky steps and various malicious intentions burning in his eyes. "_**Whoever would've thought that we'd meet again princess. And that it'd be HERE of all places?**_"

Orihime backed away, matching not-Ichigo's steps as well as she could. It only seemed to excite him.

"_**Come on princess. We're all friends here. No need to clamp up around me.**_"

Orihime backed up until she felt the edge of the rooftop underneath her feet. There was no way to run and she had an instinctive feeling that trying to fight would go horrendously poorly for her. "_Information. I need to know what's going on here._" She reasoned and spoke up with nervous and frightened voice.

"Who… who are you?" It was a natural question, though in the back of her mind she had an idea about the answer.

Next thing she knew not-Ichigo had moved straight up to her face in an instant. The sudden appearance of his grinning face inches from hers made the healer squeak and lose balance. She started falling backwards and tried to step into the air like she'd learned during the last five months.

But she couldn't. To her everlasting horror she couldn't summon enough reiatsu to do anything at all. The world seemed to move into slow motion as she threw out flailing arms, hoping to grab onto something, anything really, to stop her fall. Then something grabbed her.

Not-Ichigo had a firm grip on her right arm, intentionally letting her lean precariously on the very edge. He seemed to enjoy the power he had over the situation.

"_**Sorry toots, but I still ain't got a name!**_"

He tilted his head and his mouth narrowed into a sinister smirk. "_**But that isn't really an excuse for forgetting me now is it? Though short, I'd have thought that our previous meeting is the sort of thing a girl would remember. For the rest of her life.**_"

Orihime tried to smile nonchalantly but failed. "I… I don't think that we've… met."

He let out a short chuckle and then pulled roughly on Orihime's arm while stepping to the side. She tumbled on the floor and scraped her hands as she tried to shield herself.

"_**That's too bad and here I was hoping that you were wearing the same outfit as last time because we were gonna be all nostalgic.**_" He said with mock gloom.

Orihime looked down on herself. She was wearing the same white dress with black lines as that she'd been given during her period as a captive in Las Noches. It made her feel vulnerable and trapped.

"_**So you're not responsible for the dress huh? I guess that means he really likes the way it looks on you.**_"

"What?" Orihime asked meekly, unsure of what to make of the increasingly odd situation.

"_**Nevermind. I just figured out why you don't remember me.**_" The way he said it made Orihime's skin crawl and she desperately looked around for a place she could run to. "_**I didn't put on my game face.**_" With cruel leisure he placed his free hand in front of his face, curled the fingers and made pulling motion.

As a cloak of white reiatsu covered not-Ichigo Orihime wanted to look away, fully realising what he was talking about. But like the veritable train crash the situation forced her attention to zero in on it. Just as quickly as it had been pulled over him the reiatsu cloak dispersed revealing the face of Orihime's nightmares.

"_**There we go.**_" He said with dark satisfaction dripping from each work. He was wearing a white version of Ichigo's bankai coat and he even carried a white version of Tensa Zangetsu. But that didn't matter to Orihime. She could only see the mask.

A black skull shaped mask with white vertical lines running down the eyes. It had two large forward-pointed and sharp horns, sharp teeth showing a dark grin and his hair had grown almost as long as his body and flowed eerily in this windless world.

Nevermind that the colours of the mask were inverted from the version Orihime had seen on her crush. It was still enough to make her remember the entire horrible event.

The despair of seeing her saviour die. The weakness of being unable to revive him. The horror of having him then stand up again now as a destructive monster. The guilt of realising that it had happened because the only thing she could do was to scream out his name. It all came crushing down as not-Ichigo's eyes bore into her with malice.

"_**I suppose that you've got something to do with fixing the chaos that was going on in here. You're like a little handygirl. I might keep you around just in case.**_"

"Wh-whu?"

He tilted his masked head. "_**Oh yeah. You probably didn't see what it was like in here. Let me tell you, it was a mess!**_" Next instant he was right in front of her face. Orihime yelped and scuttled away as quickly as her position allowed. Not-Ichigo followed her at a deliberately slow pace.

"_**When that grim reaper bastard, got to remember to tear him apart when I'm in control, stabbed Ichigo this entire place lost its shape and everything crashed into everything else. I could barely even keep myself in one piece. Then you happened.**_" Orihime didn't quite know what to feel when she recognised the smallest part of appreciation in his tone.

"_**There was a flash of gold and the world smoothed itself out and then I found you sleeping on a roof and here we are.**_"

He stopped and took a quick look behind him. "_**And now the king is closing in so I better wrap things up.**_"

"Huh?" Orihime blinked and leaned to the side to see what he was talking about. There was indeed something or someone closing in on their position. Dread was replaced with hope in the healer's face when she realised the only logical person it could be.

"_**I wouldn't be making that face just yet princess.**_" Not-Ichigo taunted. "_**I'm holding all the cards at the moment and I'm not about to share any of them. But we'll get to that in a moment. I want to tell you about the first time we met.**_"

Orihime stood up as not-Ichigo talked. She didn't know what, if anything, she would be able to do to help Ichigo. She just knew that it wasn't going to happen if she sat helplessly on the ground.

Not-Ichigo ignored the new development, it would just make things more fun. "_**When Ichigo died this place turned into nothing but darkness and I thought that it would be the last thing I'd see. Then a wail pierced the shadows. It was your pathetic scream for help. It was so loud that it actually woke me up from the brink of death and I saw your image.**_"

Though she couldn't see him doing it Orihime could almost feel him smirking. It sent shivers down her spine and she wished the approaching dot would move faster.

"_**I reached out as well as I could and I guess that kind of woke Ichigo up as well. This place was still dark but I could see you crying like a little bitch out there in the real world. Annoying as that was it was also the only thing I could focus on so I pushed forward aiming for you. I didn't reach you that time, some depressing bat-dude got in the way after all. But now you're here and you know what?**_" He chuckled in grim satisfaction.

"_**You're just as sad and pathetic and weak as I imagined!**_" The sudden outburst startled Orihime and the words stabbed at some of her worst fears. She tried to ignore it but his cackling voice was impossible to block out.

"_**You've got the powers of a GOD but the only thing you can ever use the for is some half-hearted healing when you're in a good mood! Every last one of your enemies can kill you within instants so everybody always needs to go out of their way to protect you! You're a burden! A weak-willed little princess unable to…**_"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Not-Ichigo resisted the temptation to point out how similar the rude interruption sounded to her cry for help.

"I know that I'm not amazing or special like Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san and everybody else. But I am getting stronger. I am not a burden and you can't change that no matter what you say!" Her voice was shaky due to nerves but she stood her ground and stared him straight in the eyes.

He was amused. "_**Are you trying to convince me or yourself there? Either way, I look forward to breaking you. Princess.**_" A large thud was heard from behind him as Ichigo, decked out in his usual shikai outfit, slammed down on the roof-top. "_**Aah. Perfect timing.**_"

"I'm not really sure how I got here but I finally found you, hollow bastard." Ichigo's stark white counter-part had placed himself so that Orihime was blocked from the vizard's view. "Let's just get this going. I'm guessing that you know what we're doing here."

The hollow chuckled darkly. "_**Sure I do. The question is,**_" He stepped aside revealing the white-clad girl. "_**Do you?**_"

Ichigo's face dropped at the sight of the strawberry haired girl who nervously waved hello to him. "Hi Kurosaki-kun."

It took a few moments before Ichigo regained enough sense to speak. Sort of. "What… But… What… How… Who… Did Urahara-san do something stupid again?"

"No no no no." Orihime hurried. "You were hurt and the situation was really weird and then..." The hollow appeared next to her and draped an arm across her shoulder, pulling her uncomfortably close. Ichigo instantly pulled his zanpakuto off his back and pointed it at the hollow's masked face.

"_**You were hurt, like you always are, and the princess saved your bacon. As a prize she got an all expenses paid trip into your soul. Now we can all have fun together.**_" The hollow taunted, unconcerned with the blade aimed in his direction.

"Let. Her. Go." Ichigo demanded. Each word dripping with a darkness Orihime had rarely heard coming from her crush. It sent shivers through her entire being. Strange, pleasurable shivers.

"_**Ok.**_" The hollow shoved the girl back roughly, she managed to stay on her feet though. He then placed himself between the two humans. "_**Now then. Normally I'd just kill the shit out of you but since we have a guest how about we play a game together first?**_"

"She stays out of this! This is between you and me!" Ichigo tried to put up a tough front but the hollow could easily spot the suppressed fear and desperation within his eyes. He knew that he was outmatched and that he might not be able to protect Orihime.

The hollow ignored Ichigo. "_**You know. The kind of game I'm thinking of won't be any fun unless you know exactly what's at stake. SOOOO… Do you have something you wanna share princess?**_"

Orihime's eyes widened to saucer size and her cheeks blushed. "_Is he talking about my feelings for Kurosaki-kun? But how could he know? I haven't…_"

The hollow seemed to read Orihime's mind. "_**Oh princess. Just because I was born from and live in his soul doesn't mean that I'm stupid like he is.**_"

Orihime took a step back while shaking her head frantically. "_Nononononononono! Not here! This is a bad place to say stuff like that and I… I… I'm not ready._"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo yelled, tired of being ignored and confused.

The hollow turned to face Ichigo. "_**You really do suck Ichigo. And not just at fighting. Look at her. Look at her eyes and tell me what you see!**_"

Ichigo blinked in confusion. "O… Orihime being scared… I guess and…"

"_**Like I said. You suck. And she's a wimpy little coward. If you ever actually got together you'd be perfect for each other.**_"

Orihime had never seen that kind of look on Ichigo's face. She'd seen him terrified, happy, determined, exhausted for various reasons and scowling, which really could mean anything when it came to Ichigo but Orihime had learned all the subtle nuances years ago. But she'd never seen him so confused and disbelieving as right now. Then again, she wasn't exactly making a normal face herself.

Her mouth was opening and closing without making a sound making her resemble a goldfish. She'd imagined several possible horrible scenarios that could've developed from the situation. That her feelings for Kurosaki Ichigo would be revealed against her will was NOT one of them.

"What… what are you talking about?" Ichigo questioned, unsure of how to react to what was being implied.

"_**So I have to spell it out for you. The princess here is…**_"

"ILOVEYOUICHIGO!"

Silence.

Blinking and more silence.

Further blinking and even more silence.

"…did you just say that you…" Ichigo couldn't even finish the sentence and Orihime felt the need to repeat herself.

"I am in love with you Kurosaki-kun." It was easier the second time around.

"Oh." He blinked. "Ehm. I… I don't know what to say Inoue. I…" An unexpected fisted slap across the vizard's face sent him crashing to the floor.

"_**Cute but I didn't force that revelation so that you two could play out your little teen drama. I just wanted you,**_" He pointed his zanpakuto at the rising Ichigo. "_**To know what was at stake here in this little game of mine.**_"

Determination and anger once again dominated Ichigo's features. "You. You are so dead."

"_**What? Don't you like having a cute girl love you? That's bad. Because the name of the game is,**_" He lazily swung his zanpakuto across the ground between him and Orihime. Even without touching anything the swing generated enough force to split the edge of the building they were standing on clean off.

"_**Save the princess. And we're starting right now!**_"

* * *

"Bakudo #63, Sajo Sabaku!" Urahara roared as he conjured up chains of glowing yellow energy that wrapped around the hollowfied Ichigo tightly.

"Bakudo #99, Kin!" Tessai followed up his boss' sealing with black spiritual fabric that wrapped around Ichigo's entire body and dragged him to the ground while iron shafts pinned the fabric, as it formed a large X-shape over Ichigo's body, to the ground.

"Bakudo #75, Gochutekkan!" Hachi finished off the sealing process by summoning five giant steel pillars linked together by chains at the top that slammed down on Ichigo's body and further pinned it to the ground.

Despite the three sealing kido the hollowfied Ichigo was still squirming around as viciously as possible while screeching loudly in frustration.

"Well done boys." Shinji declared with a relieved voice. "That should buy us a few minutes." The seals rattled ominously. "I hope. Ok everybody! Move! You know what to do!"

The majority of the crowd took the cue and moved with purpose. Tessai and Hachigen got to business constructing a large barrier around Ichigo. Yoruichi hurried over to Orihime and snatched her away from the hollowfied Ichigo's side, an action which seemed to further anger the sealed vizard. Urahara ran away mumbling something about fetching some equipment. Most of the other vizards pulled out their zanpakuto and readied themselves for combat. Uryu, Chad and Rukia gathered around where Yoruichi put down Orihime.

Only one person seemed at loss for what to do.

"What the hell is going on?" Tatsuki practically screamed at Shinji in frustration at not knowing what was happening.

Shinji stared at the black haired karate practitioner blankly. "Ehm, I guess that I can give you the abridged version. Ichigo is duking it out with his inner hollow inside his soul. While they're doing that Ichigo's body will, as you can see, transform into a hollow. Our job is to keep said hollow, which tends to be annoyingly strong, contained so that it doesn't, you know, go out and kill everything. Oh and Ichigo might become a hollow forever if he doesn't fix whatever's going on inside him within a few hours."

Tatsuki stared at the vizard leader with wide eyes while pushing down any urges to yell out in confusion. "What about Orihime?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"She might be inside Ichigo's soul." Urahara said off-handily as he appeared next to the human with several boxes in his hands. "Or maybe she's just passed out. Who knows really?" Tatsuki grew increasingly annoyed by the shop-keep's casual manner. "Either way…"

"It's up to us to keep an eye on her." Uryu interjected before Urahara could annoy his friend any further. "I realise that things are looking unusually stressful right now, Arisawa-san. And to be honest, they are. This is Kurosaki we're talking about after all. He can't do anything without causing lots of inconveniences. But he'll come through in the end. He always does. For now, you said that you wouldn't leave Inoue-san's side didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess that you're right Ishida-kun. But there are…"

"Questions that can be answered later. Shinji and his crew are the experts in dealing with all things vizard. I say we leave things to them for now." The quincy locked eyes with the human who silently agreed after a moment or two. "Join our friends. There are things I need to inform Urahara-san and Shinji-san about." Tatsuki nodded and headed over to her friends as Uryu turned to the two men in question, who had both completely ignored the friendly conversation in favour of going through some last minute details.

"How many of you are going to take on Kurosaki?" Uryu decided to not beat around the bush and successfully gained their attention.

"We usually go at it one at the time and…" Shinji started, slightly annoyed that people kept questioning what was going on.

"That won't be enough." Uryu was developing a nasty habit of interrupting people. "I've seen the power Kurosaki has while in this form. You're going to need at least two people on him at all times."

"Excuse me kid but you'll have to forgive me for not trusting your judgement on this. We've dealt with these kinds of monsters before and…."

Ichigo chose that moment to rip through the chain and fabric with such force that one of the metal pillars was launched high into the air before crashing into the ground close by to the quincy, shop-keep and vizard. The four remaining pillars were quickly crackling as Ichigo made his way up again.

"WE'RE DOUBLE-TEAMING THIS BASTARD!" Shinji shouted to his comrades, not looking into Uryu's face. "KENSEI AND MASHIRO ARE FIRST UP! GET THE BARRIER READY!"

As Uryu rejoined his friends around the unconscious healer he couldn't feel any satisfaction at being right. Despite his words to Tatsuki he was worried about both of his strawberry haired friends and what might be happening to them. As he reached the small group they all shared a look and nod before turning to the newly erected barrier. They all felt the same. As shockwaves that could be felt throughout most of Karakura town erupted from the within the barrier one thought floated around in their heads.

"_Ichigo. Orihime. Be safe._"

* * *

"KUROSAKI-KUN!" Orihime screamed in despair as she tried and failed over and over again to step into the air and fly.

"I'm coming Inoue!" Ichigo charged after the free-falling healer but was thrown back when the hollow slugged him in the face for a second time today.

"_**If it was that easy it wouldn't be a game now would it. To save the princess you have to get pass…**_" He raised his sword to easily block a power swing from Ichigo. Behind the mask the hollow cocked an eyebrow. "_**Rude.**_"

The vizard pushed against the black and white monster with enough strength to shatter buildings and split the earth. But it was not enough. The power of a shikai was less than nothing against a hollow that could crush an espada twice transformed.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Ichigo bellowed and redoubled his efforts to no avail.

"_**No.**_" The hollowed growled, menacing glee having been replaced with dark seriousness. "_**Because of you I almost died. I'm going to make you suffer before I take over. Starting with watching you fail to save the girl that loves you.**_" He finally pushed back with the lightest of touches, sending Ichigo flying across the rooftop.

The teen flipped back onto his feet and charged forward once again. His over-powering opponent just watched him intently. Ichigo swung his zanpakuto in a wide arc. But it wasn't aimed at the hollow. The force tore up the roof and kicked up a cloud of dust that covered the hollow's vision.

When he'd managed to wave the dust away the teen had disappeared. "_**Clever boy.**_"

Meanwhile Orihime was occupied with falling down helplessly and trying to avoid the crumbling debris all around her. To her credit she wasn't screaming in terror and was still attempting to step into the air.

Of course, that was just on the outside. In her mind she was something of a ranting mess. "_I'm gonna die! Unless Kurosaki-kun saves me! But he's busy fighting his own hollow! He'll win, he always wins! Except that one time he died and either way he always drags his fights out for a long period of time so I'll smash into the ground before that! Then again there doesn't seem to be any ground, just a bunch of endless buildings! Why can't I fly!_"

Right at that moment Ichigo burst through the building wall in front of her, his expression a mix of determination and relief. Orihime let out a gasp of elation at the sight of the young man she loved coming to her rescue.

"Don't worry Orihime! I got you!" He reached out to catch the willowy girl in his arms when he suddenly came to a halt.

"_**No you don't.**_" The hollow deadpanned while holding onto Ichigo's ankle. He then swiftly pulled his arm back and threw Ichigo back through the building. He looked after the rapidly descending girl.

Some movements too fast for human eyes to comprehend later and Orihime found herself falling face-first into another rooftop, the force of impact making it feel like she'd been in a boxing match.

"Oww." She moaned and rubbed her arms as she got up on her feet.

"_**He kind of sucked at that. Too bad for you really.**_" The hollow taunted. Orihime turned around and met his gaze with a frightened and tired gaze.

"Please don't. Don't hurt us anymore. We haven't done anything to you." She pleaded; a result of realising the difference in power between Ichigo and his look-alike hollow.

"_**But pain is how you grow princess. And believe you me. I've done enough growing for several lifetimes. It's my turn to be the king now.**_" He took a step back to avoid Zangetsu's blade as it pierced the roof from below and Ichigo leaped up from it.

"Back up Orihime! I got this!" He attacked his hollow with a barrage of furious strikes aimed at any and all vital parts of the hollow's body. While the hollow did back away he still blocked each and every swing like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"_**So conceited and foolish.**_"The hollow almost whispered and in an instant his white blade flashed with movement and blood sprayed from the deep wound across his coloured counterpart's chest. Before Ichigo could really comprehend what was going the hollow sent him flying to Orihime's side with a harsh push.

"_**I got this.**_" The hollow quoted with contempt. "_**Always with the defiance in face of people that can straight up murder you. I am so tired of that attitude. It's not brave or anything. It's stupid.**_"

"I never said that it wasn't" Ichigo grunted as Orihime helped him sit up. "It's just what I have to do. All the time. Nothing more and nothing less." He pushed himself up, although he stumbled a little and had to be steadied by Orihime. Once he regained his footing Ichigo gripped Zangetsu's handle with both hands and stared into the hollow's eyes with purpose and the tiniest hint of a smirk. "Besides, I'm not buying it."

The hollow cocked an eyebrow inside the skull-shaped mask. "_**What are you talking about?**_"

"This whole 'playing-with-your-food' attitude you've got going. It's fake. You're not the torturing kind. If you wanted us dead we would probably be dead already. You're that much stronger." Ichigo's smirk was annoyingly confident. "I'm not sure what you're up to but just leave Inoue out of it and we'll do what we usually do."

The hollow stood still and just stared at his human counterpart and the nervous girl behind him. The grip on his sword handle tightened and his head titled in a way that Orihime found eerily terrifying, Ichigo didn't seem to get the same feeling though as he just stood his ground while waiting for the hollow to respond.

When he next spoke the hollow completely lost both glee and malice in his words which now carried a detached cold to them. "_**New game then. This one's called 'Protect the princess'.**_"

He disappeared, Orihime felt a painful stinging sensation as her left cheek was cut, and reappeared behind the teens.

"_**Can you guess why?**_" The glee and malice had returned.

Ichigo whirled around. "What the hell are you doing!"

"_**Making a point.**_" He disappeared again and a large cut appeared across Orihime's back.

The healer shrieked and fell to her knees. She trembled with pain and fear.

The hollow appeared a few feet in front of them. "Stop it! I told you to leave her out of it!"

"_**That you did. Several times actually. It ain't gonna happen just because you're repetitive.**_" He disappeared in a blur and aimed his white sword at Orihime's right hand. To his surprise the blade was intercepted by a bigger sword, halting him in his tracks.

With the element of surprise Ichigo managed to push the hollow back a fair distance, forcing it to skid on the roof and tear up long trenches with its feet.

Light blue reiatsu flared up around Ichigo's blade with such intensity that it almost blinded Orihime, she still stared in awe though. Waves of force emanated from the blade to such an extent that fierce winds were kicked up.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" With his signature roar Ichigo launched a truck-sized beam of concentrated reiatsu at the hollow. The attack was larger than any he'd thrown out while in shikai mode, nearly approaching its bankai strength.

The hollow held out an open hand stopping the blast dead in its tracks.

But that was part of Ichigo's plan. Because of the blast's size the hollow's field of vision was blocked. Ichigo used the distraction to slip by the hollow's side while charging up another getsuga in Zangetsu. Once behind the hollow, Ichigo spun around and swung the getsuga powered blade at the hollow's neck. Hopefully he'd at least score an incapacitating blow and give himself and Orihime some time to gather their wits.

He had no such luck.

The hollow turned around in mid-swing, shoving the first getsuga to the side where it destroyed the top two floors of a neighbouring building, and just left his front open for attacks with his arms held out to the sides. It happened so fast that Ichigo didn't even know that the hollow was now facing him until Zangetsu slammed uselessly against his chest.

"_**The power to kill lieutenants and seriously injure captains and the best you can do is mess up my clothes. Tells you something doesn't it.**_" With a sharp kick to the gut Ichigo was sent flying backwards across several rooftops.

"_**But if it's a ranged battle you want.**_" The hollow leaned forward, pointing his horns in Ichigo's direction and started gathering a mass of red reiatsu between their tips. "_**Then that's what you'll get!**_"

The red energy compressed into itself and was about to burst forward when the hollow found itself forcefully tackled to the side by a 99 pound heavy strawberry haired teenage girl.

Granted, the hollow was much too strong to actually be knocked over but the surprise of the action was enough to tip his head to the side so that when the energy blast was released just short of its intended target, destroying several buildings in a small mushroom cloud explosion.

With intentionally slow and menacing movements the hollow turned its head to glare at Orihime, who was rubbing her shoulder from tackling skin as tough as steel while backing away as though she was facing a hungry bear that was considering turning her into a light snack.

"_**Well. At least we know that you really will be perfect for each other.**_" He lifted his sword high into the air, readying it for a strike. "_**You're both idiots who think that you're brave.**_" He made a motion to swing down but instead stepped back as a sharp blade got alarmingly close to his eyes.

As the attack missed and Ichigo came flying by the hollow he twisted in the air and kicked off from the hollow's chest. Rushing through the air he looped an arm around a surprised Orihime's waist, dragging her along with him.

The healer lost her breath as they tore through the air at breakneck speeds, leaving the hollow far behind. Not that he seemed to be in a hurry to catch up to them. Instead he examined the zanpakuto in his hand and chuckled darkly.

He gripped the hilt with both of his hands and raised it high above his head. "_**I always did want to see what a getsuga would look like in this form.**_"

On cue a billowing white plume of energy burst forth from the pommel and surrounded the blade. It towered high above the hollow and shook the zanpakuto to such a degree that he almost dropped it. He smirked.

"_**GETSUGA TENSHOU!**_"

He brought the zanpakuto down in a wide diagonal arc. The usual single-lined blast of energy was absent. In its place was a gigantic wave of destruction the width of five skyscraper buildings that tore through the world, ripping everything in its path to shreds. And despite their massive lead the wave was quickly gaining on Ichigo and Orihime.

"Can you use you shield or anything like that Inoue?" Ichigo shouted in desperation.

"No!" Orihime screamed with a guilt-ridden voice. "I can't do anything! I don't know why! I'm sorry!"

"It's ok!" Ichigo shouted back with as reassuring a voice as he could muster, refusing to let the girl in his arms give in to despair. "We'll survive this and then I'll kick the bastard's ass and then I'll give you an answer! I promise!" In a moment of being a teenage girl in love Orihime forgot that they were being chased down by almost certain death and blushed at the thought of Ichigo possibly reciprocating her feelings. She was dragged away from that happy image when Ichigo gave her an order.

"Get ready to curl up when I tell you to, ok!" Not waiting for her to respond Ichigo dived down between buildings and slashed open a wall to enter one of them. An instant later the giant getsuga washed over them in a manner similar to a hurricane on fire. Ichigo had managed to reach a floor just beneath the worst of the blast and once there he'd curled up around Orihime, shielding her with his entire body, and ordered her to curl up as well.

The top of his shihakusho was torn apart and his torso was heavily burned. It felt like a thousand super-strong strikes rained down upon him all at once as only his iron-will kept him from losing consciousness.

As the storm died down heavy breathing tickled Orihime's hair. The strong arms that had circled around her were keeping a tight grip, as if their owner feared letting her go. In the back of her mind the part of her that cared more about romance than real life relished at the fact that Ichigo was holding her in a tight embrace. Luckily her common sense was strong enough to push those distractions and gently nudged Ichigo to let her go.

"Kurosaki-kun? Are you alright?" She cautiously asked as Ichigo slowly let her go and stood up, he wobbled a bit but managed to stay himself.

"Not really." Obvious answer. "But I've been through worse. Now, we've gotta find a place for you to hide before the bastard gets here and…" A thin white blade pierced through Ichigo's chest.

"_**Stabs you through your heart?**_" The hollow said with an amused voice from behind Ichigo. "_**Sorry. Too late for that.**_"

"ICHIGO!" For the umpteenth time Orihime tried to summon her powers so that she could heal Ichigo or do anything really. But she just couldn't. It was as if the world didn't agree with her, like the air was of a foreign substance that kept her reiatsu from coming out like it was supposed to.

"_**She really is a screamer isn't she.**_" The hollow stated matter-of-factly as he pushed his blade further through Ichigo. "_**Makes one wonder what kind of sounds she makes in bed doesn't it?**_"

"Bastard." Ichigo spat out through gritted teeth. His right arm twitched as if to attack but it was quickly grabbed and kept in place by the hollow.

"_**No need to be rude Ichigo. After all, I'm the very reason you still have your powers and abilities.**_" Ichigo's eyes widened a bit. He hadn't actually given the reason behind his remaining powers much thought.

"_**Of course it was me all along.**_" The hollow answered the unasked question. "_**Right before me and Zangetsu joined together I hid away a piece of myself for safe-keeping. Like hell I was going to die.**_" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "_**But I almost did and that was fucking painful.**_"

He twisted the zanpakuto a little, earning a pained groan from Ichigo. "_**I suffered far more than you ever did and you just thought your powers returned willy-nilly. Idiot. You should be thanking me. If it wasn't for my planning ahead you would just be another random punk in the masses wishing he had…**_"

"You… talk… too… much." Ichigo gasped out between heavy breaths.

"_**Huh?**_" The hollow blinked and then looked down as he felt reiatsu building below his feet. Ichigo's had managed to stab the ground with his shikai and now a circle of blue energy shone under their feet. It exploded upward, bathing both human and hollow in a getsuga blast.

The white blade was roughly pulled out of Ichigo and he stumbled forward into Orihime's arms which held him up. With a muttered word of gratitude Ichigo turned around to find the hollow being annoyingly unharmed, unless one counted messed up clothes to count as battle damage.

"_**Bravo. You very nearly almost hurt me.**_" The hollow taunted. "_**I do wonder if anybody else finds your stubbornness as amusing as I do.**_"

"Nope." Ichigo stated flatly as he pulled himself from Orihime and placed both hands on Zangetsu's hilt. "Most just think I'm being stupid." He rushed the hollow and slashed at its torso.

The hollow countered easily with a slash so strong that it cut Ichigo's weapon in half and sent its wielder flying backwards with blood spraying from the new cut across his torso. Ichigo crashed down by Orihime who got on her knees to help him. Only she didn't know how she'd do that.

"_**You are stupid.**_" The hollow confirmed. "_**But that's what makes your stubbornness so funny. It's almost perpetual.**_" He glanced over at Orihime. "_**Aren't you going to start crying already girly. This is pretty much the part where everything is hopeless and you can get to confirm that by being your weak, pathetic self.**_"

Orihime whimpered. "_It's happening again. Kurosaki-kun's dying again and… and… I can't do anything..._" A hand stroking the side of her face stopped her thoughts cold. Her eyes automatically sought out Ichigo's soft and reassuring face.

"Hey now." It amazed the healer how gentle his voice could be despite the situation they were in. "You look like a person who's thinking too much about bad stuff." He coughed and there was suddenly a fragility in his voice. "Focus on the great stuff you've done and I promise to stand up soon." It awoke something in her. Something that she hadn't felt since the first time her powers manifested.

She took Ichigo's hand in her own and lightly placed it on his chest. "Take all the time you need Kurosa… Ichigo. I'll take care of things here." At first Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise at how firm and steady her voice was. But they quickly mellowed and filled up with confidence. Confidence in the girl that, apparently, loved him.

The hollow did not share Ichigo's sentiments.

"_**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is brilliant! The crying little princess is going to save the day? I mean, I love a good joke but this is almost too much! AHAHAHAHA!**_"

His continually cruel merriment however didn't seem to have any effect on Orihime though. She just stared at him with a determined expression and her slim hands tightly balled into fists.

"_**Oh dear. You're actually serious about this. You're actually going to take me on. I… I actually can't express how stupid you are!**_"

Orihime took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She remembered Rangiku and Rukia renewing her confidence in their own special ways, Lilinette and the arrancar she'd revived happily greeting her and treating her with respect and finally Ichigo. Not with a hole in his chest. Just Ichigo as he usually was. Relaxed and naturally scowling.

When she opened her eyes again the hollow immediately shut up, astonished by the fierceness he saw in them. And when she opened her mouth to speak her voice and words were filled with certainty.

"I am in love with Kurosaki Ichigo and I will not let you hurt him anymore!"

The hollow titled his head to the side. "_**And how pray tell are you going to do that?**_"

In response Orihime held out her arms with her hands opened up and declared. "Santen Kesshun. I reject!"

Nothing happened.

Then the hollow started laughing again.

"_**You almost had me there girly! You almost had me! Nice bluff!**_" When Orihime's determined expression didn't waver in the slightest the hollow stroked his chin.

"_**Interesting. You actually think that something's going to happen. Tell you what. I'm going to indulge you and give you the time you need. A count of ten should be enough right?**_"

Orihime closed her eyes.

"_**I'll take that as a yes. One.**_"

Orihime didn't pay any attention to the hollow's count. She was busy focusing on the world around her. Ichigo's soul.

"_**Two.**_"

"_This is not a foreign world. It is Ichigo's soul._"

"_**Three.**_"

"_I shouldn't try force my powers to come out here. I shouldn't try to do anything without getting in touch with… with Ichigo's soul His very being._"

"_**Four.**_"

With another deep breath Orihime focused on the very atmosphere around her and how it reminded her of Ichigo.

"_**Five.**_"

It was different from the real world, that's for certain. But it wasn't hostile or anything, homicidal hollow non-withstanding. It was actually rather welcoming once she took a moment to get the feel of it.

"_**Six.**_"

"_I'm the outsider here. But I'm not being rejected. It's my body, or soul I guess, that's resisting Ichigo's soul world, as a reflex or something. I think that I can make it stop doing that._"

"_**Seven.**_"

"_But what will happen to me if I do that? Why doesn't my soul want to mix with Ichigo's? Is it dangerous?_"

"_**Eight.**_"

"_Oh no. He's almost done. I don't have the time to second-guess myself. I just hope that Ichigo won't be hurt by what I'm about to do._"

"_**Nine.**_"

"_Ok. Here we go. Please just do… something… anything that lets me help Ichigo._" With that she stopped shielding herself and her soul was, for lack of a better word, flooded.

"_**Ten. Well look at that. Nothing ha…**_"

A massive tornado sprung up from where Orihime was standing, obscuring the hollow's view of both her and Ichigo. The gale-force was strong enough to push the hollow back a few steps before he found his footing.

"_**The hell is this?**_" For the first time during the confrontation the hollow felt real uncertainty and something akin to fear.

* * *

"Take this you stupid strawberry bastard!" Hiyori shouted at the top of her lungs, her vizard mask making the shout sound especially monstrous, as she slammed her serrated cleaver into the hollowfied Ichigo's gut which sent him flying across the grounds and into a large rock formation.

"Do you think that'll stick?" Shinji, with both mask and shikai activated, asked as he moved up next to his diminutive comrade. Ichigo had almost literally torn through Kensei and Mashiro. He'd then repeated the performance against Love and Rose. So Shinji wasn't taking any chances.

"Of course." Hiyori confidentally boasted. "Thanks to your distraction," She nodded to his shikai. "I managed to score a perfect hit with full power behind it. Chances are that I made some serious and permanent damage." She said with an all too jovial smirk.

"He's getting up and I think that he's already healing from the tiny cut you gave him." Shinji deadpanned.

"WHAT!" Ichigo was indeed standing up like nothing had happened and shrugging off dust before letting out a roar that almost deafened both of the blonde vizards.

"Get ready." Shinji muttered, trying to hide the worry in his voice. They'd been at it for 15 minutes already and they were already dead tired while Ichigo seemed to be fine as a daisy still.

So it was understandable that both he and Hiyori flinched when Ichigo took a single heavy step forward that almost seemed to reverberate throughout the entire structure. To their great relief he stopped dead and let out a pained screech.

A light blue aura engulfed him and just like that he seemed more preoccupied with writhing in pain and confusion.

A walkie-talkie strapped to Shinji's belt buzzed and Urahara's confused yet excited voice came out of it. "Ehmm. What's happening in there? It kind of looks like he stopped."

Shinji picked up the device and brought it to his mouth without taking his eyes off of the distracted hollow. "No idea. The bastard just started glowing and now he doesn't seem to be all that concerned about us."

"Well, that's odd. Has anything like this ever happened before?" Shinji could almost hear the shop-keep take notes in his head.

"Not at all. I guess that something's going on inside him that we can't…" At that moment what seemed to be a thin thread of blue energy shot out from Ichigo's aura. "…explain." Shinji finished as he watched the thread snake its way across the battleground at lightning speeds and then slip through the barrier like it wasn't even there.

Shinji anticipated the coming question. "Is that thread I'm watching coming from Ichigo?"

"Yep." Shinji confirmed and then voiced an educated guess. "Is it heading towards Orihime-chan?"

"Of course it is. What's Ichigo doing now?"

"He's calmed down." Hiyori hadn't relaxed the same way Shinji had and was still observing their hollowfied friend. "And he seems to be focusing on the thread."

It was true. Ichigo glared at the thread that was being emitted from his body and tried to smash it with no success. He then followed the thread with his eyes which seemed to be more focused than usual.

"The thread is pissing him off." Shinji explained into the walke-talkie. "I think that there's a good chance he'll be wanting to destroy whatever's attached to it.

"Aah." Urahara responded with a flat and annoyed voice. "Well, that just makes our part that much more fun doesn't it?"

* * *

Back inside Ichigo's soul the hollow was beginning to grow impatient with the tornado, though that could just be nerves since it had been less than five seconds since it appeared, and decided to finish it himself.

Keeping it simple he moved to disperse it with a wide slash through the air.

"Koten Zanshu. I reject!" Three things caught the hollow off-guard in that moment and lead to him getting hit by something that was actually a serious inconvenience to him.

First off all was that the voice shouting the attack phrase was not Orihime's delicate yet firm voice. Hell, it wasn't even female. It was a dark and aggressive male voice.

Secondly, it was immediately followed by a man-sized golden ray bursting out of the tornado which just went against everything that the hollow knew about Orihime's abilities.

And finally, he felt the change that had occurred in Orihime and couldn't believe what she'd managed to do.

Together all these factors were enough to distract the hollow so that the attack managed to hit him head on in the chest and not only injured him but actually pushed him off his feet and across the air.

The golden beam pushed the hollow through half a dozen skyscrapers before he managed to push back enough to break the momentum. The hand he'd used to grab the attack started bleeding as it got cut by the golden beam. As the energy dissipated he looked down and saw a normal sized man with black hair that pointed up decked out in a black full-body suit with wings coming out of his forearms and a beige scarf covering the bottom half of his face.

"_**Who the fuck are you?**_" The frustration that powered the roar shook the surrounding buildings but the newcomer just stared coolly into the hollow's eyes and answered simply.

"The name's Tsubaki, you little punk. Which means that I own more than you do." With that he kicked away from the hollow and quickly returned to Orihime.

The hollow stared after him and then looked down on his chest. His shikutso had been torn open where he was now sporting a fairly large and bloody wound. It suddenly became rather difficult to keep his emotions in check.

Tsubaki touched down swiftly right in front of Orihime, who was still surrounded by a decreasing tornado, where he got down on one knee to better spring into action. "I have no idea what you did girly or where we are but I'm liking it."

"I don't know. I feel kind of exposed at this size." A small girl dressed in a red dress that was larger than her own body muttered from her position to the right of Orihime.

"Now now Ayame." Said a young man with his blonde hair tied in a topknot that was hovering on Orihime's other side. "I say that we make the most of the situation. Who knows when we'll get another chance like this again?"

"I agree with Shun'o!" A tall, thin man with a purple shirt and elfish ears shouted enthusiastically from his position hovering right behind Orihime. "We should embrace the possibilities of what's happened here and do some of the things we couldn't do in our minuscule statures!"

"Whatever Hinagiku, as long as we can get the work done any size is good enough." A large, bald brawny man with a mask covering his lower jaw that hovered to the right of Hinagiku said with a rumbling voice.

"Oh you're no fun Baigon." The last of the six newcomers, a young woman with bright pink hair, transparent yellow goggles, and a blue bathing suit that sat in the air to the left of Hinagiku, teased playfully. "I don't think that we should close any doors just now. What do you say Orihime-sama?"

"Thank you all for coming out like this. I know that the circumstances aren't exactly what one would call normal but…" Orihime said with a focused voice but was cut off by Tsubaki.

"Don't worry about it girly. We're always there for you. Right guys." The other six spirits agreed with friendly words and gestures. "Just tells us what we can do to help." As if on cue a giant pillar of dark red reiatsu burst into the air from where Tsubaki had left the hollow and it was followed by what could only be described as the howl wounded predator. "And it looks like you're going to need lots of help."

"Yeah." Orihime muttered as what remained of the tornado dispersed around her, revealing that her outfit had altered so that it was now gold where it used to be white and gray where it used to black. Her usual hairpins had been replaced by large crystal flowers with six petals each. All the wounds the hollow had inflicted on her were gone. Her eyes shone with determination and her very being exuded confidence. "Let's get to work."

* * *

**I've got to admit that I absolutely adore Orihime's Hueco Mundo outfit. But I'm pretty sure that she'd have issues about it. So I made up this little compromise and stole the idea of crystal flowers from another fic. I like the way it looks in my head. I hope that you guys enjoyed this little evolution in Orihime's development. Tell me in a review.**


	16. I am Inoue Orihime, hear me roar

**Here we go. The big finale to the Ichigo(and now Orihime)/Hollow Ichigo battle. I did several retakes of this based on reviews and what I wanted to do. Hopefully I found a nice medium. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the chapter and remember to review when you're done reading.**

* * *

Power.

It was surging through her body like never before. Amplifying her abilities well beyond the limits she believed herself to have. At first she expected herself to be afraid of this sudden upgrade. Too terrified of the might at her command to use it. But the only thing she felt was happiness. She was finally strong enough to save Ichigo and herself. Any other worries seemed inconsequential by comparison.

Even the towering mass of reiatsu that Ichigo's inner hollow was letting out in a fit of rage seemed to be of little concern. So Orihime felt perfectly safe when she turned to look at Ichigo, who was lying flat on his back right behind her, his mouth open in awe.

"I… Inoue…" He stuttered out. "What… what did you do to...?"

Orihime smiled calmly at her crush for a moment or two, looking unusually serene and mature. When she opened her mouth Ichigo was certain that she'd give him a solid answer.

"Sorry Ichigo. I'm not really sure myself." She giggled out with a sheepish grin as she scratched the back of her head.

"Whatever it was you should be damn grateful you snotnosed little punk!" Tsubaki yelled into Ichigo's face as he floated above the battle-damaged vizard. "If it weren't for Orihime-san you'd be a sitting duck here!"

"Could you get out of my face already?" Ichigo said with a strained and annoyed voice.

Tsubaki started poking the annoyed teen's nose. "Oh, so you don't like it when somebody invades your personal space do you! Like say when grabbing somebody's wings!" With each word the dark sprite poked a bit harder, further aggravating Ichigo. He might've broken the poor boy's nose if Baigon hadn't pulled him away.

"Give it a break Tsubaki. We're not here to mess around with this dunderhead." The brawny sprite told his comrade while holding him back.

"Hey!" Ichigo protested but stopped as the protest caused him pain.

"Tsubaki, please calm down." Orihime ordered with a calm and polite voice. She was once again facing the enemy's direction. "He's making his move." All the sprites as well as Ichigo looked in the same direction as the now serious healer.

The hollow had stopped having a fit and was instead charging up a powerful cero.

Orihime moved her right arm back, hand fully open, a little so that it pointed in Ichigo's direction. "Soten Kisshun. I reject." The words were the same as ever but the self-assured way in which she spoke them gave them a whole new weight.

Ayame and Shun'o left Orihime's side to place themselves on opposite ends of Ichigo, producing a familiar golden barrier between them. At that moment the hollow fired his cero. It tore through Ichigo's soul world, ripping buildings apart without actually touching them and Ichigo vaguely remembered how it had been the attack to finally defeat Ulquiorra.

"Inoue! You've got to get out of here!" He screamed, afraid for their lives.

Orihime ignored him, held out her left arm and spoke with the same certainty as before. "Santen Kesshun. I reject."

The three sprites instantly flew up in the air and formed a large triangular formation within which Orihime's golden shield manifested moments before the cero collided with it. It sounded like thunder continually crashing into a mountain. The shockwaves from the clash crumbled the buildings around them.

But behind the shield it was safe and sound and Ichigo's jaw hit the ground. Orihime looked at him with a kind smile once the blast had ceased. "Don't worry Ichigo." She said. "I told you that I'd take care of things." She then whipped around while sweeping the air with her left arm.

"Shiten Koshun. I reject!" Tsubaki sprung into action, turned into a sphere of light and slammed into the centre of the shield, making it take a pyramid shape just as the hollow blurred in front of it and slammed his sword into the shield.

The attack rebounded and the shield flared a bit before striking the hollow with his own power, sending him flying through the sky with a deep wound across his chest and shoulder. He managed to come to a skidding halt but from there he wasn't sure what to do beyond taking rapid and frustrated breaths. The situation was bordering on ridiculous after all.

"_**She's not supposed to be this strong. Even if she did manage to…**_" He quieted down as Orihime stepped down into the sky a few meters in front of him with Tsubaki, Hinagiku, Baigon and Lily floating slightly above her, ready for action.

"Even if I managed to do what?" She asked politely. There wasn't a single trace of fear or animosity in her eyes. It stunned the hollow to silence.

"Hey! She asked you a question!" Tsubaki admonished their opponent who glared at the enlarged sprite in return.

"No need to be rude Tsubaki." Lily said as she smacked her comrade across the head. "Mr. hollow seems to be confused by the situation too."

The hollow sneered. "_**If you don't realise what you've done it's best not to tell you.**_"

Orihime nodded. "I see. Well, that's ok. For now it's fine if you just ceased attacking us."

A red aura surrounded the hollow as he narrowed his eyes. "_**Yeah. That's not happening.**_"

Orihime smiled sadly and let out a sigh. "I figured that would be the case." Golden auras appeared around her and the four sprites. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to stop you then."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Sizing up their respective opponent. And then it exploded.

"_**Getsuga Tenshou!**_"

"Santen Kesshun. I reject!"

From his position within the Soten Kisshun Ichigo could only make out oddly coloured explosions in the air as his wounds, clothes and zanpakuto were repaired. Despite that limitation he couldn't help but be amazed. Normally Orihime wouldn't have been able to keep her shield up even once against a foe as strong as his hollow. To do it repeatedly while also healing him was a bewildering leap in ability.

Ichigo didn't even notice when he'd been fully healed until the golden barrier was lifted off of him. "There you go Ichigo-san. Shall we join the battle now?" Shun'o asked with a smile.

"That is… if you want to…" Ayame asked while fiddling with her fingers.

On reflex Ichigo gripped his sword and stood up to leap into action. But he stopped himself and looked up at the huge bursts of white and golden reiatsu that detonated across the skyline. He shifted his gaze to his zanpakuto and his expression turned somber.

"You two go ahead." He told the sprites. "I'll catch up." Shun'o and Ayame shared an incredulous look and nodded before heading off. Ichigo closed his eyes in frustration. "_Damnit! I can't do anything while I'm like this and I can't go beyond shikai unless I beat the bastard._ _Inoue can hold him off but I'm the one who needs to take him down. What the hell do I do?_"

* * *

Hiyori's mask shattered as she was stomped into the ground by Ichigo's hollowfied self, her zanpakuto lying broken a short distance away. Luckily for her, Ichigo's currently primitive mind seemed less interested in the termination of Hiyori's existence and more interested in the ungraspable thread of energy that led out through the barrier.

So he passed the broken and groaning vizard to stomp after the thread. His diverted focus allowed Shinji, hollow mask fully activated, to appear in front of him without fearing any retaliation. The vizard held out his hands and charged up a red ball of reiatsu in them. When Ichigo was about two arm-lengths away Shinji fired the massive cero into Ichigo's masked face. It completely engulfed Ichigo, who ran heedlessly into the blast.

Shinji smirked in triumph when a blur passed him and a sharp pain struck his chest. Blood sprayed from the large wound across his torso, his vizard enhanced powers being the only reason he wasn't cut in half, and Ichigo continued his charge.

"Shibari, Beinhime!" A large black web covered the hollowfied human who stopped in confusion and frustration.

"Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi!" The web exploded in a huge tower of flames. With a giant leap Ichigo escaped the flames with the intention to continue ignoring any diversion. That's when a heavy blow smashed into the back of his head while he was in mid-air. The ground exploded as Ichigo crashed into it with the force of a freight-train.

As he tore himself up from the ground he was met with the silhouette of a fit woman wearing gauntlets and grieves, her bodily features amplified by the bright light emanating from what appeared to be crackling wings of white energy protruding from her upper back.

He was faster but she moved first so her double upper-cut connected with his chin before he could touch her. Yoruichi bit down to ignore the pain coursing through her arms when she hit Ichigo. Despite the anti-hierro armaments protecting her Ichigo's hide proved to be tough enough for it to hurt any person striking it. Still, with the combined power of the gauntlets and her shunko the blow was strong enough to send Ichigo flying backwards.

Urahara appeared next to Yoruichi, who was breathing hard, and gazed after trail the hollowfied human tore up as he flew back across the field. "Whew, nice hit Yoruichi-san. That'll keep him down for…"

"A few seconds." Yoruichi finished cynically while brushing off some sweat from her brow.

"That's a bit more optimistic than what I was going to say, but something along those lines. I'll keep him occupied while you pull out Shinji-san and Hyori." Not wasting time on further banter the scientist flash-stepped away to where Ichigo was currently tossing boulders, rocks and pebbles off of himself.

"Hello there Kurosaki-san." The greeting was met with a sword-swipe that ripped open the ground and shredded Urahara without touching either of them. He took a heavy step forward to dash off with earth-shattering force when a red energy slash cut across his back making him lose his balance and crash into a large rock formation.

"I do love my inflatable gigais." Urahara mused jovially as he stepped up to where Ichigo crashed and suddenly re-emerged from with a furious roar. Before the shop-keep could do more than step back and look shocked his hollowfied friend was swinging his sword to cut him down.

Luckily Yoruichi appeared between them, having put the two vizards in a safe position quicker than Urahara expected, and threw up her armoured arm to counter the attack. Normally even the anti-hollow gauntlets would've been torn apart by Ichigo's swing but Yoruichi had accounted for that and used the shunko technique called hanki to nullify the attack's movement entirely.

Confused, as far as his currently one-track mind could be anyway, Ichigo blinked. In that tiny little moment Yoruichi and Urahara struck him simultaneously in the chest and sent him rocketing into the other edge of the barrier, the strange thread flopping chaotically in the air.

"Too close Kisuke. Keep your damn guard up will you." Yoruichi admonished as the two ran after their target.

"Basic but sound advice. So, how much are you holding back?" He asked with a horribly carefree tone.

"Just a smidge. You?" Yoruichi answered reluctantly.

"Same. I do believe that our appreciation of Kurosaki-kun will be the death of us." Ichigo was standing up again, all wounds they'd inflicted on him completely healed, and he fired a massive cero at the two annoyances.

Both seasoned warriors leapt above the red blast and dashed down through the air to strike at Ichigo from above.

"Then let's hope that the moron finishes his end of this ordeal quickly. Before he finishes us." With that the entire structure shook violently as the shop-keep and master assassain's attacks collided with the hollowfied human's sword-swing.

* * *

"Koten Zanshun! I reject!" Tsubaki yelled out as he punched the hollow right in the face, cracking its mask and making it back up a few steps. He growled in frustration as he tried to stab at the sprite's chest but found that his target had already retreated to Orihime's side.

"Soten Kisshun. I reject!" Orihime called out and the hollow felt the girl's reality rejecting power descend upon him, Ayame and Shun'o had flanked him and surrounded him with their golden barrier. He quickly fled the god-defying power and launched a cero blast from a distance below the girl.

"Santen Kesshun. I reject!" Orihime yelled held out her arms together in the direction the cero was coming from. Hinagiku, Baigon and Lily turned into glowing orbs and formed the now, for the hollow, annoying shield upon which his attack harmlessly exploded.

He paused, while still keeping a close eye on the girl and letting his mask repair itself, to gather his thoughts. "_This is ridiculous. Even if I accept that her abilities are greater than my raw power she shouldn't be able to use them this efficiently. Is she getting more than just a power boost from the connection?_"

His musings were cut short when Orihime, with all six sprites close by, floated down to his level. Their eyes met, he glared and she calmly gazed, and they just stood in silence for a moment or two.

"Will you stop now?" Orihime asked hopefully.

He tilted his head to the side. "_**That's interesting.**_"

"What is?" Orihime managed to hide most of the apprehension in her voice.

"_**Something that I didn't notice at first. We're fighting, except… you're not. You just want me to stop and the only thing you're doing is what you always do. Throwing up a shield and harmlessly retaliating with that rejection power. The kind of changes the game doesn't it?**_"

Orihime and the Shun Shun Rikka tensed up at the malicious smirk that formed on the already frightening mask. "Ridiculous! She's been launching me at you loads of times already! And we've hit you with the Shiten Koshun a few times as well!" Tsubaki protested fervently while flying up in front of Orihime, determined to protect his master.

"_**No. You've launched yourself at me.**_" The hollow corrected with a superior tone. "_**She's calling out the name of all her other techniques. But not for you. You're the one yelling out your own power. My guess is that this little upgrade has given all of you enough power to act independently. But it's much stronger if she adds her own power to the mix. And the other thing is just a counter technique. I do all the damage there.**_" He narrowed his eyes. "_**So let's try this again, shall we?**_"

"KOTEN ZANSHUN! I REJECT!" Tsubaki bellowed at the top of his voice and blasted off at the hollow before Orihime could say anything to stop him.

The hollow caught Tsubaki in one hand and while it got torn and blood sprayed into the air the hollow didn't seem to care. "_**See. If the princess put her power into this I might've lost my arm here. But now I'm free to do this.**_" He slashed his white sword across Tsubaki's waist, cutting the sprite in half and then he let the two halves fall through the sky.

"TSUBAKI!" Orihime's serene exterior was momentarily shattered but she quickly recovered somewhat. "Soten Kisshun! I reject!" Ayame and Shun'o shot through the air after their comrade.

The hollow smirked and unleashed a quick but large cero after the three sprites. True to her protective and caring nature Orihime sent the Santen Kesshun trio to intercept the blast and they did so successfully. In that moment the hollow's strategy became clear. It was old as dust.

Divide and conquer.

With all of the Shun Shun Rikka a fair distance away from Orihime could only brace herself as the hollow suddenly grabbed her throat and speed off with the gold-clad girl.

He stopped once they were far away from the sprites and held Orihime up in the air. "_**Silly little girl. You can have all the power of the world but without the right resolve it won't matter.**_" His grip on her throat tightened and it became difficult to breathe for the healer. She tried vainly to pry off his fingers. The hollow chuckled at this.

"_**If you don't want to hurt your opponent then all you're doing is delaying the inevitable. Do you get it princess?**_" He pulled her up to his terrifying visage. "_**You're still weak!**_"

In response Orihime did something unexpected.

She smirked.

And then she looked at the hollow with kind eyes.

"_**What's so funny?**_"

"Nothing really." The healer answered simply. "Just thinking about how you're a part of Ichigo and how I could never hurt Ichigo even if I wanted to. So it's only natural that I don't really want to fight or hurt you. And yet I don't feel like I'll lose this."

The hollow's eyes widened in shock and in his confusion he failed to notice the approaching presence until it grabbed his shoulder.

"I on the other hand don't mind kicking your ass." Ichigo said, his trademark scowl on full display as the hollow turned around only to be met with a sharp slash across his masked face. The blow made him drop Orihime and sent him reeling several feet away from the strawberry haired duo.

"You ok Inoue?"

"I'm fine. Just got to catch my breath." The gold clad girl answered with a smile that showed her newfound confidence hadn't wavered in the slightest.

Ichigo sent her smirk in response. "Good. Stay there. I just figured out how to end this." With that he blasted off, not noticing Orihime's annoyed pout.

"Are you really going to let him talk to you like that!" Tsubaki protested as he and the rest of the Shun Shun Rikka flew up to their master.

"Tsubaki-kun… please don't yell like that." Ayame pleaded. "I… I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it…"

"Even so, it is quite rude to tell Orihime-san to just stay back after what we just did." Baigon grunted.

The other sprites were about to join in on the conversation when Orihime held up a hand, silencing them. "Ichigo is a protector and a stubborn one at that. It's one of the reasons why I love him. But so am I and I won't just let him go out there without realising that." Without saying anything else Orihime set off towards the battle. The Shun Shun Rikka all shared a look and smiled before following her.

Ichigo had been pushing back the hollow with a fierce barrage of blows that held a surprising amount of strength. It still wasn't enough though to achieve victory as the hollow caught the shikai blade firmly in his hand and held it there.

"_**Nice try. I don't know where you got a second wind from but it ain't gonna get you far.**_"

"You say that but I'm already right where I need to be!" Summoning up all his strength Ichigo struck at the hollow's chest with an open palm, as if he was reaching to grab something. Instead of just striking flesh like it normally would however Ichigo's hand and arm just dipped into the hollow's body as though it wasn't even there. A burst of black reiatsu accompanied the intrusion as the hollow screamed out in panic.

"_**What the hell are you trying to do punk!**_"

"You're just one side of my powers and I'm gonna guess that the reason why you've fully recovered while I'm having trouble bringing out my full might is because you're suppressing the other side. So I'm dragging the old man back out here!"

"_**LIKE HELL YOU ARE!**_" The hollow made a stab for Ichigo's face but the teen shifted his body and the white sword got stuck in his shoulder instead.

"BRING IT!" Ichigo yelled as he felt something solid within the hollow, like a hand gripping his own and he started to pull. He brought up a foot to his doppelganger's waist and used it to push away. More and more dark reiatsu started pouring from the confrontation as the hollow screeched out in pain.

"_**Don't think it'll be that easy!**_" Crushing the shikai in his hand the hollow clutched onto Ichigo's throat to crush it. The action only made Ichigo pull harder. Burst of black and red reiatsu exploded frequently from the duo and for a short time they seemed to be at a stalemate when Ichigo made a frightening realisation. As hard as he was pulling he wasn't getting anywhere. Whatever he was holding onto just wouldn't budge.

The hollow realised this as well. "_**See! This isn't going to work! I'm the king now and I am not…**_"

"Soten Kisshun. I reject."

A golden light covered the hollow as he felt a strange force enveloping him. Glancing behind him he saw that Orihime and her sprites, save for Ayame and Shun'o who were both in golden orb form, standing behind a golden screen. The girl had her arms out and was giving the hollow what seemed like an apologetic look. That's when he felt something lurch forward in his chest.

A pain unlike any he'd ever felt surged through the hollow as Ichigo started to make some progress in his efforts.

"_**No! NO! I'm the king now! I am not going to let you do this to me!**_"

"Psh. Put a sock in it will you." Ichigo admonished as he pulled out his own arm entirely, it was now gripping tightly onto another arm clad in a black sleeve. Bright blue reiatsu poured out of the teen and it began to over-power the hollow's dark power.

Enraged the hollow tore out his zanpakuto from Ichigo's shoulder and made to cut off either one of the two arms.

"No." Ichigo said through gritted teeth and followed it up with. "BANKAI!"

An explosion of blinding light and smoke billowed out from the pair and the hollow felt as though a mighty blow struck him so hard that he momentarily lost consciousness and fell from the sky to crash into one of the buildings below his increasingly large group of opponents.

"Well," A calm and serious voice said with a sigh. "That was an altogether unpleasant experience." The smoke slowly dispersed, revealing the speaker to be a short, thin and dark haired young man with the eyes of an ancient warrior. He was dressed in a dark robe and carried a thin black blade. Despite his small frame Orihime felt that the newcomer was one of the most powerful entities she'd ever encounter. And then he glanced at her with a tired expression.

His look made Orihime feel very fidgety but she managed to keep most of her composure and bowed respectfully as a greeting. "Hello. I'm…"

"Inoue Orihime." The young man said with appreciation in his voice. "I know you fairly well miss. I know all of Ichigo's close friends fairly well."

"That kind of makes you sound a bit like a stalker you know." Ichigo said as he stepped out through the remaining smoke. He was now fully clad in his bankai outfit and wielding the same black blade as the newcomer.

"His mind is an open book to me." The newcomer explained without missing a beat. "I am the spirit of his zanpakuto. My name is Zangetsu. I thank you for protecting Ichigo and aiding in my liberation." Zangetsu bowed slightly towards Orihime.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Hinagiku announced as he flew up to Zangetsu and shook his hand. "Me and my fellow associates here," He gestured to the other five over-sized sprites as they hovered over to greet the zanpakuto spirit. "Are the Shun Shun Rikka. Orihime-san's powers to be more precise."

"Yes, I was able to see your actions through his eyes." He nodded slightly at where the hollow had crashed. "You were all most impressive. But I wonder if you realise why that is."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsubaki yelled in Zangetsu's face. "We're this strong because girly over there finally got her act together!" Zangetsu remained impassive when faced with the shouting sprite and was about to retort when Ayame spoke up, seeming more nervous than usual.

"Don't shout Tsubaki-kun. I'm certain that Zangetsu-san didn't mean anything by it. And even when Orihime-chan has her good days we're usually not this potent. So it's a fair question he's asking."

Zangetsu gave Ayame a thin smile of acknowledgement. "I couldn't have said it better myself miss." The overly-clothed sprite blushed fiercely and looked away quickly, making Tsubaki sigh in frustration as Zangetsu continued. "There is a reason why you have achieved this level of power and that is…"

"_**Excuse me. But weren't we having a battle here?**_" The group swiftly turned at the hollow who'd flown back up to their level. Any wounds he'd received from Zangetsu's liberation were healing up quickly.

"I guess that we'll have to leave the explanations for later. For now it's enough that she's stronger than she used to be." Ichigo said with a conclusive voice as he readied himself to resume the battle.

"You only think so because you don't kow any better." Zangetsu admonished lightly as he held up his own black blade. "But perhaps it will be easier to explain if we got rid of all the threats here."

"_**ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN TALKING ALREADY!**_" The hollow gathered up a mass amount of white reiatsu in his blade. "_**I'm the king here now and I say that the next person who speaks instead of fighting gets executed!**_ _**Like this! Getsuga Tenshou!**_"

With a mighty swing he unleashed a gigantic wave of white reiatsu. Ichigo and Zangetsu were both about to counter with their own attacks in hopes of deflecting blast. But they were beaten to the punch.

"Koten Zanshun! I reject!" A flash of gold zipped by Ichigo and Zangetsu. It collided with the hollow's getsuga and split it in two without the slightest hint of effort. The hollow could only stare blankly in confusion as the two halves of his devastating attack dispersed in the air and the golden light came within an inch of him before flying up in an arch back to Orihime where it reverted back to Tsubaki.

Ichigo and the two aspects of his powers stared blankly at the gold-clad girl who was holding out her right arm, presumably what she used to direct her counter-attack. A serious expression upon her face.

"I may not want to hurt you hollow-san," The healer began, her voice holding more authority than ever before. "But that doesn't mean that I'll sit on the sidelines and let you hurt Ichigo or Zangetsu-san either."

The hollow continued to stare at the group for a moment or two and then it chuckled. The chuckle grew into an incessant laugh as he covered his face with his hand. The laugh grew more and more shrill and the hollow started to lean back so much that he'd be looking up at the sky, his entire body convulsing with laughter. Ichigo, Zangetsu, Orihime and the Shun Shun Rikka grew more and more nervous the longer the hollow cackled. Having enough of it Ichigo took a step forward to tell his doppelganger to knock it off. At that moment the hollow snapped his body forward like a whip and let out a hellish roar that sounded more like that of a beast from your worst nightmare than the slightly insane inner demonic spirit of a surly teenager.

He lunged forward with a speed that Orihime could barely perceive as more than a blur while reaching to grasp onto the girl. His hand was inches away from her face when a black flash struck pale spirit's arm, deflecting it temporarily. Zangetsu used the moment he'd created to position himself between the hollow and its intended target. Ichigo on the other hand used the moment to slash at his look-alike's skull-shaped mask. His attack hit hard and whipped the hollow's entire body straight up, creating another moment where the hollow could not act.

Moving as one Ichigo and Zangetsu summoned black reiatsu in their blades and lashed out at their opponent with a double attack. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Two crescent-shaped waves hit the hollow's chest dead on and sent him careening through the air. Both attackers followed swiftly.

Zangetsu reaches the hollow first as he managed to right himself and skid through the air. Not wanting to waste his opponent's lack of balance Zangetsu aims a slash straight at the chest. But a white blade intercepts the black one and Zangetsu is pushed back a bit. At the same time Ichigo appeared next to the hollow and lashed out with an attack of his own.

But he hit nothing but air as the hollow bent back impossibly far and at the same time his swordarm moved like a whip to cut up Ichigo's face. Luckily Zangetsu cut inbetween the two fighters and deflected the attack.

The hollow righted himself up and jumped back. For a tense moment he glared at his two opponents. Ichigo and Zangetsu shared a glance and a brief nod before rushing forward. With a two-pronged barrage they attack, hoping to overwhelm their opponent with speed and numbers.

To their astonishment however their assault was met and countered perfectly. Each swing was blocked. Each slash was answered with a deflection. Each and every attack the black-clad duo tried was beaten back with contemptful ease. Ichigo powered up a getsuga and kept it in his blade as it came bearing down on the hollow. The hollow caught it with his left hand but Ichigo could feel how the hollow's skin was pierced by the blade and burned by the getsuga.

Giving no hint of pain beyond an enraged expression the hollow pulled Ichigo close, while blocking Zangetsu's attacks blade to blade, and kicked the surly teen in the gut. Ichigo was sent rocketing to the buildings below and crashed into the roof of one.

"ICHIGO!" Quick reflexes saved the zanpakuto spirit as he was barely able to side-step at stab at his right eye. The dodge made the hollow fly pass his smaller adversary but he stopped just as he did so that they were behind one another. Grim determination settled in Zangetsu's face as they both swiftly turned around and their blades crossed paths with devastating force.

For a few seconds the two sides of Ichigo supernatural abilities clashed fiercely. Sparks and shockwaves blasted outward every time they smashed their blades together and with each blow Zangetsu became increasingly worried. He was already barely keeping up as it was and trying to match strength with the hollow was tiring him out quickly. Eventually he was sent flying back even when his parry was flawless. After a particularly heavy blow almost made him drop his zanpakuto the hollow grabbed ahold of his face, swung him up into the air and hurled him straight down to the same building Ichigo had crashed into.

Zangetsu hit the roof with so much force that the top two floors collapsed. The zanpakuto spirit was barely conscious when he was uncovered from the rubble that had fallen on him.

"Hey, you ok?" Ichigo asked with a voice that honestly could not see the obvious answer to the question.

"No." Zangetsu groaned and forced himself to sit up. "This is going poorly."

"No kidding. His powers haven't gotten any weaker from separating the two of you like I thought they would be." Ichigo offered his partner a hand which Zangetsu took and was pulled to his feet.

"I'm not surprised." Zangetsu muttered and dusted himself off. "When he shut off most of your access to my powers he probably did the same to himself. He's been using his own strength this whole fight."

"Great." Ichigo groaned. "And it's not just that. It feels like he's snapped even more than usual for some…" Both of them turned sharply as a massive red cero burst through the wall behind them.

"DAMNIT!" Ichigo yelled. Both of them charged up getsugas, hoping to cancel the blast out when a golden wall separated them from the attack and stopped it entirely.

"Hi!" Orihime said excitedly as she stepped into the rubble, flanked by Ayame, Shun'o and Tsubaki. "Sorry I'm not keeping up. You're all very fast. Here let me heal you. Santen Kesshun, I reject."

"Hey girly. You may want to consider giving us a roof." Tsubaki pointed out while he looked up. Orihime followed his gaze and her eyes widened in shock at the red blast closing in on the group.

"Sorry!" She yelled apologetically and made a sweeping motion with her left arm pointed at the sky. The Soten Kisshun shield bent and expanded until it covered them all like a dome just in time to cancel out the cero crushing down on it. "Heh, that was close." Orihime cuckled nervously while looking up at the hollow who seemed to be contemplating his next move while hovering around them. It was terribly reminiscent of a shark circling a prey.

Ichigo looked Orihime up and down with narrowed eyes. Sweat was dripping down her brow and her entire body was trembling. "Don't push yourself too hard Inoue. You're starting to look a bit weathered." He said with genuine concern lacing his voice.

Orihime quickly shook her head and tried her best to steel herself. "It's nothing Ichigo. Nothing that I can't handle." Truth be told she was starting to feel unusually heavy and not only was it exhausting her but it was also starting to hurt a little. But she'd come too far now. She wouldn't stand on sidelines anymore. "I'll be fine." She lied.

"No. You won't." Zangetsu said pointedly as his wounds finished healing. "You are not conditioned for the power that you have received and it is wearing you down. It happened to Ichigo the first time he used his bankai. That time his bones started to break from his own spiritual pressure and I fear that the same is happening to you. You have done well here today. Without you…"

"I said that I'll be fine!" Orihime practically yelled with in voice that was both fierce and pleading at the same time.

"Inoue." Ichigo muttered in disbelief as the Soten Kisshun dispersed and Ayame and Shun'o returned to Orihime's side.

Zangetsu let his gaze wander from Ichigo to Orihime and back before sighing. "_Was more than just power transferred or has she always had this much fighting spirit? Regardless, we need to finish this before she is permanently damaged._"

He looked up at the hollow who now just standing still. Just waiting. "_Does he realise this development as well? Is he waiting for her to be crushed under the weight of her own powers? At the moment it looks as though there is only one way for us to match his raw power. But that would bring us back to square one unless…_" He stared at Orihime, whose breath was becoming more and more worrisome, and considered his options. Time was of the essence, he just hoped that she was up to the task.

"I have a plan." Zangetsu suddenly said loudly, drawing the attention of everybody present, Ichigo had left the sword spirit's side to tend to Orihime. "It's going to require that all of us work together and I will need to stab Ichigo with my zanpakuto."

"It's ok. He's done it before. It turned out ok." Ichigo responded to Orihime's shocked and worried expression.

Two minutes later the golden barrier shattered on its own. The hollow smirked behind the mask, thinking that Orihime had fallen to the pressure of her own power-up. But when he could clearly see his opponents he was in for quite the shock.

Orihime was still standing, though she looked almost ready to pass out, and all of the Shun Shun Rikka were standing around her in a protective circle. Zangetsu was nowhere to be seen and then there was Ichigo.

He was slightly taller than usual and his hair somewhat longer and more unkempt. His zanpakuto was also longer and thinner, the guard had grown several times and the chain at the end of the handle had become long enough to wrap itself around Ichigo's right arm several times. It was the same appearance Ichigo had sported when he fought and killed Aizen.

The hollow blinked and before his mind could really process how Ichigo had reached this form he uttered a single word.

"_**Crap.**_"

Ichigo swung his sword once in the general direction of the hollow giving the malicious simile just enough time to shield himself before he was hit by a force strong enough to shatter mountains.

Blood splattered everywhere as pale white skin was ripped away and the hollow was knocked straight out of the sky. He barely managed to right himself up before hitting a roof top. His skin slowly put itself back together as his mask started to crack.

Heavy breathing escaped the masked spirit as he gripped his sword handle so tightly the newly grown skin on his palm burst open. "_**BASTARD!**_" White hot reiatsu surrounded his zanpakuto as the hollow swung it once and twice and thrice and more times that one could count. With each swing he released a large, crescent shaped white getsuga and within seconds a barrage of them tore through Ichigo's soul world aiming for the two teens.

With his expression not moving an inch held out his swordarm to his right. Like with the hollow's blade an aura of reiatsu surrounded Ichigo's blade, only this one was black. With a wide swing the black plume extended until it almost reached the hollow, he halted his attack and jumped back to be sure that he wasn't hit by the counter blow. As he did so he was able to witness something most infuriating.

When the black getsuga crossed paths with the white barrage all of the cruved blasts were absorbed into the black plume making it grow a little over two times its original size. But the hollow felt that its strength had grown substantially more than that.

Hefting his zanpakuto above his head Ichigo pulled the enlarged getsuga back before blasting it forward with a downward slash. It wasn't terribly fast but the hollow felt that his own dignity was a stake when faced with the powerful getsuga. Considering the day he's been having we can excuse him of some pressure filled madness.

He powered up a massive cero between his horns and fired it at the opposing attack. When the two met it caused a shockwave that shattered all the endless buildings within a ten block radius. For a few moments the two blasts pushed against each other and then the getsuga destroyed the cero and raced in the hollow's direction.

Anger clouded the hollow's judgement and for a second he considered actually trying to catch the getsuga. At the last second however he jumped far to the right and let the blast sail past him. It was the right choice as the getsuga exploded, causing a small mushroom cloud in the distance and shaking the entirety of Ichigo's soul world.

"Smart move. You would've been killed by that last attack and I actually don't really want that." Ichigo muttered, suddenly behind the hollow.

White blade slammed into black as the hollow spun around and attacked. Ichigo merely standing stock still and letting the attack crash into his zanpakuto. Yellow eyes glared at impassive brown and they stood still for a moment.

"Normally I'd kick your ass all over the place for what you've done to Inoue and Zangetsu but I'm a bit of a time limit here so can we just cut to the chase?" Despite the statement Ichigo's entire being seemed perfectly relaxed. As though he could do anything.

"_**You must be desperate. This little merger between you and the old man will just put you back at square one. When it's over your connection to Zangetsu will be broken and I'll be all that's left of your powers and…**_"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Ichigo said with a role of his eyes. "Like, can we just cut to the chase." A black aura of reiatsu burst up around the blade of Zangetsu and Ichigo narrowed his eyes, getting ready for action.

"_**Whatever you want.**_" The hollow said quietly, his voice filled with confidence and smugness despite having been rather overwhelmed just recently. White reiatsu surrounded his blade.

Both of them gripped their respective handle with both hands and moved like clockwork. Pulling back their zanpakutos in preparation for a giant swing and crashing them back against each other with all their strength while letting out primal roars of power.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

"_**GETSUGA TENSHOU!**_"

In the same instant that their attacks met the hollow noticed something from the corner of his eyes. As black and white reiatsu clashed a golden light enveloped them. The hollow sighed.

"_**I'm such a sucker some times.**_" He thought before zeroing all his attention on the clash of power that he was currently engaged in.

The two getsugas started twist and wrap around each other and their masters until they formed a black and white orb upon which the two colours struggled for dominance. At the same time the massive golden canopy that had formed around the battle seemed to lie dormant as if waiting for a time to act.

Orihime was breathing heavily and starting to sweat profusely. Blood dripped from her nose and it was getting harder to stand. But she remained vigilant and stayed focused on the rampaging orb. It would however be nice if Ichigo could hurry up a little though.

Just as that thought left her head the black reiatsu started to cover the majority of the orb and she took that to be her cue. She focused on the how Ichigo and Zangetsu had looked right before they merged. On the power that had emanated from them and the sense of total confidence she had in both of them.

The canopy lit up like never before and seemed to douse the now completely black orb in rays of light. At first the orb started to expanded, like it was getting ready to explode. Cracks even appeared all over it. But just as it got to brink of exploding the rays of light seemed to push it back and forced to do the opposite an imploded upon itself.

Like water running down a drain all of the black reiatsu seemed to swirl into a fixed point. After a few minutes it became apparent that it was in fact being drawn into Ichigo and Zangetsu's chests. Both of them stood no worse for wear in front of the hollow, who was now unmasked and missing the lower half of his body. What remained of him was slowly falling apart and being absorbed into Zangetsu. A sign that Ichigo's powers were once again becoming complete.

"_**Well… shit.**_" The hollow muttered. "_**She rejected the reality of you losing your powers again without accidentally giving me the strength to fight back. Tell the princess that I'm impressed would you.**_" He said with gleefull sincerity t Zangetsu.

"I will." Zangetsu answered and turned around in Orihime's direction. "Wait here Ichigo. I want to speak with you a little before you go back." The teen nodded as his zanpakuto spirit set off for the healer's location.

Ichigo stared at the hollow with his usual scowl and was met with a sardonic smirk.

"_**You got me again king. Of course, you needed a girl to help you out but whatever.**_"

"I would like it if you would stop doing this." Ichigo practically ordered, ignoring the slight at his friend's gender. "It'd be so much more peaceful for the both of us you know."

"_**No can do king. I'm a being of combat and so are you. Or at least you would be if I wasn't around. So no, we can't get along and I won't stop doing whatever the hell I want. You won this time and you'll get a reprieve from me for a time. But I'm always here and you know it.**_" He finished off his speech by smiling madly at Ichigo who just sighed.

"Whatever. It's your butt that keeps getting kicked." The human teen retorted shortly and turned away from his simile who glared angrily at the back of his head before turning his head the other way, muttering words of revenge.

Zangetsu landed by Orihime, who by now was down on all four in exhaustion. The Shun Shun Rikka had all reverted to their sprite forms and hovered around the girl with worried expressions. Ayame was the first to notice Zangetsu approach.

"Please help her!" The tiny sprite pleaded. "She's hurting and we can't even lift her up and…"

"Don't worry." Zangetsu said with a kind smile, which left Ayame blushing, as he walked passed the sprite. "I will make Inoue-san exit this soul and return to her own body. It's a painless process and she should be more or less fine when she returns. I promise. You may even find yourself somewhat rejuvenated." He knelt down next to Orihime and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry that you were not as conventionally involved in the battle as you might've wanted to but…"

"It's… ok…" She said between sharp intakes of air. "I… don't… like… vio…lence…" She managed to lift her head and smile friendly at her new acquaintance. The Shun Shun Rikka all gazed proudly at the girl and Zangetsu nodded.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Inoue-san. I hope that we will see each other again. Now close your eyes."

Orihime did as she was told and suddenly she felt lighter and like she was falling up. Then she woke up.

* * *

With an earth-shaking tremor the barrier was crushed and Ichigo, still in his hollow form, leapt through the air. When the landed his feet made deep imprints on the ground and he let out a terrifying roar. Yoruichi and Urahara's unconscious and battle damaged bodies lay on the ground a short distance behind him.

He didn't care. The only thing that was important was that he could finally see where the thread that was sticking out his being ended. More enemies seemed to have gathered around the source of the thread. They'd be destroyed like everyone else. Two enemies moved in from behind, they were preparing their moves. But they were so slow. He'd crush them later. For now he set off at his target.

As Ichigo rushed the group gathered around Orihime they all went into battle mode. Rukia activated her bankai, armor grew on Sado's arms, Uryu pulled out his bow and blue fire appeared around Tatsuki's hands and feet.

"This is going hurt huh?" Tatsuki asked no one in particular.

"Depends on how quickly you die." Uryu responded half-jokingly and Tatsuki didn't dare to make any more comments.

Back where the barrier had been Hacchi and Tessai launched a kido spell each at Ichigo. But he jumped high into the air so that both of them harmlessly exploded on the ground. The four friends raised their gaze and saw their soon to be killer fall down at them.

"Well. Here goes." Rukia muttered morosely.

"It's ok." A gentle voice said behind them and they foolishly turned around to see Orihime stand up, wobbling a bit as the thread between her and Ichigo flickered out of existence. She then walked past the group, who all just stared at her in confusion. She found the transformed Ichigo with her eyes and smiled. "All will be well." She said just as the monster slammed down into the ground before her.

* * *

"Is she safe?" Ichigo asked Zangetsu when he returned to his master's side.

"More or less. But it would be prudent to make this a quick conversation." The spirit answered. "So while I would like to give you the complete information about the source of Inoue-san's powers I will have to tell you the short-hand version. Urahara Kisuke will most likely be able to tell you the rest of the technicalities."

Ichigo relaxed and nodded for Zangetsu to continue. "Ok. Lay it on me."

"During her stay here Inoue Orihime opened up her soul to yours, essentially creating a bond between them. Through this bond you shared a fair amount of your substantial reiatsu reserves with Inoue-san and that is what increased the potency of her natural abilities." Zangetsu explained.

Ichigo blinked and thought how he was missing the lame drawings with chappy heads. "Ok." He muttered. "Is this bond dangerous to Inoue? Is that why she started feeling ill?" He questioned, growing more nervous by the second.

Zangetsu shook his head. "No. The bond itself isn't dangerous and from what I can tell Inoue-san was only bothered to the extent that she was because she is unused to the handling the amount of reiatsu that was surging through her at the time."

"Ok. Then what about…"

"Whatever questions you have will have to wait. We are out of time. Tell Urahara Kisuke that the two of you achieved a soul connection and that it seems to be compatible. Until next time." Before Ichigo had time to protest Zangetsu reached up to Ichigo's forehead with his left index and middle finger and pushed. With a quick flash and a shimmer Ichigo was gone, leaving Zangetsu alone with the hollow, who by now was nothing but a floating head.

"_**So it's just the two of us yet again. Want to see a movie or something.**_" He mocked and received an unexpected response. A smirk.

"I am you and you are me. We both know what goes through our heads so there is no point in trying to hide it." Zangetsu teased.

"_**What are you talking about?**_" The hollow sneered.

"Human children pull pig-tails to get girls' attention. You draw her blood and try to prove yourself as more dominant than the true object of her affections. But I suppose that is to be expected from a being of combat, and lust apparently."

"_**Oh shut up.**_" The hollow grunted before popping out of existence and into Zangetsu's body.

Zangetsu stared out into the ruined and endless city of Ichigo's soul world and sighed in contentment. After months of captivity and now stressed combat he would finally get to rest.

* * *

All of her friends reached out to pull Orihime away when Ichigo landed in front of her. There was no need for that though. For just as Ichigo landed his mask and white skin cracked and exploded off of him, revealing Ichigo with his eyes closed as though he was sleeping, and he stopped moving instantly.

Without opening his eyes Ichigo straightened his back, stretched a little and took a deep breath in order to get himself realigned. When he finally opened his eyes he was met with a smiling Orihime and the rest of his close friends staring at the two of him with a mixture of confusion and relief.

"Welcome back Ichigo." Orihime said happily.

"Thanks Inoue." Ichigo said with a tired voice. "Did I hurt anybody?"

The healer looked over his shoulder to where the injured vizards were all standing up and watching their comrade return to his senses. "Ehm… nothing I can't fix." She said with a chuckle to spare her crush any feelings of guilt.

"Oh good. Don't over-exert yourself." Ichigo let out a sigh of relief and wobbled a bit on his feet. "Look. I'm going to faint soon. But I promise that the next time we meet I'll give you a proper answer. Ok?" With that Ichigo closed his eyes and fell into Orihime, who caught his limp body with a smile.

"Yeah. That's ok." She said softly and turned to their friends. "Can somebody help me here. Ichigo is kind of heavy and…"

She was met with four pairs of incredulous eyes and excited curiousness that culminated in the main question being asked by Tatsuki. "What the hell just happened!"

"And since when have you been calling him Ichigo?" Rukia followed up immediately with a wicked grin on her face.

"Ehm. I. Uh. We." Orihime stuttered out feeling more and more embarrassed as her friends poured on the questions while Ichigo started slipping in her grasp. She was going to be explaining quite a lot in the coming hours.

* * *

It was by pure chance that Byakuya was strolling around the Gotei 13 fortress so late in the evening. He'd been feeling slightly restless after finishing the day's work early. That combined with still waiting for any actual results Renji's investigation and pretending to not worrying about Rukia was beginning to cloud his mind. So the head of the Kuchiki clan decided to clear it with a casual walk. It was most fortunate that he did so. For he encountered two of the reasons for Renji's investigation and though none knew it, it would be an informative meeting for the shinigami captain.

It started with some yelling in the grim reapers native language that came from around a street corner Byakuya was heading for. "We can't wait a whole day captain! Who knows what those masked freaks will do to Michael while we're cooped up here waiting for back-up!" Byakuya recognised the voice as belonging to the strange red-headed grim reaper girl.

"And who knows what they'll do to us if we do what you do and charge in like a bunch of planless idiots. No, we need to be smart about this. And shut up. You never know who's listening in place where they don't speak your language." The other voice belonged to her most infuriating silver haired captain. Byakuya composed himself as they got closer to one another.

"But that'll take too long!" The lieutenant whined. "Just let me go back there alone! I'll be extra careful and just locate their hideout and…"

"I said no." Richard ordered with a dark voice. "It's enough that the head-captain's lieutenant has gone missing. I'm not about to hand my own lieutenant over on a silver plater just because…" He shut up the instant he rounded the corner and saw Byakuya's passive face. Both grim reapers stopped and they all shared a tense silent moment.

Richard quickly threw on his trademark smile. "Captain Kuchiki. Enjoying a walk this fine evening I see."

"Yes." Byakuya confirmed and looked the pair up and down. "You have clearly been involved in battle. Who did you battle and for what purpose?"

Richard glanced at himself and Beileag. They had yet to change clothes after their fight in the human world and thus the marks of battle were indeed quite obvious. But that didn't deter Richard's charming smile.

"We were sparring and it got a little heated. My Beileag here is quite the combatant after all." He boasted.

"I'm sure." Byakuya said, the disinterest and disbelief all too obvious behind the stoic facade. "You were arguing. About what?"

"The little dear is homesick and wanted to quit the mission early. But I'm a strict boss."

"I see. And how long **will** you remain here?" Byakuya asked pointedly.

Richard tilted his head slightly to the right and Beileag started glaring rather intensely at the shinigami. "Not long now I assure you. Just a week at most. In fact, I'll soon be calling all of your captains to a meeting for an overall evaluation." Richard explained with a casual voice.

Byakuya nodded. "I see." They were silent for a few moments that might as well have been stretched out for hours. Both captains just stared into one another's eyes the entire time, neither blinking for a dangerously long time.

Eventually Richard stretched his arms into the air and yawned very naturally. "Well captain Kuchiki. It's time for us to hit the sack. See you tomorrow or something like that." With that he pushed Beileag to make her move and the duo walked up the street and began talking with voices straining to sound normal.

"Did the stick-in-the-mud suspect anything?" Beileag asked very disrespectfully.

"Of course he did. He's an attentive person. But I got it covered. He doesn't know anything of importance and even if he did there's nothing he could do. Now shut up." Richard explained with voice that sounded perfect for discussing the weather.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes.

This is probably a good point to explain that Byakuya considers it common sense to be well-versed in multiple languages in case that there was a situation that would require it. One of those languages just so happened to be the native tongue of the grim reapers.

Despite this however he could only deduce that his suspicions of their western guests seemed correct. They were up to something, Hawkins had managed to be sufficiently vague about what exactly, and considering that they weren't very open about it Byakuya was certain that it would be something undesirable and that it had something to do with their man in the human world. Based on the red headed lieutenant's off-hand comment it would appear that more grim reapers were incoming. That alone was most troublesome. Byakuya decided to continue his walk and ponder what his next move should be while hoping that Renji's investigations would be fruitful sooner rather than later.

* * *

**I do hope that you liked how Orihime handled herself in this situation of being super-powered and that nobody minded that Ichigo got to finish off his own hollow, it was kind of important that he did that in my eyes. But now we must move on to the future. Time for another grim reaper/shinigami focused chapter and more politics. Look forward to that and I shall look forward to your reviews. Until next time.**


	17. Early one morning

**Yeay! A new update that didn't take three months. It was still tricky due to the last scene but I'll stop talking and let you get there on your own. There's lots with the grim reapers this time around since the last few chapters were pretty Ichigo & co heavy. The various plot threads will start coming together now. But enough from me now, I'll just let you enjoy this latest chapter of Grim visitors.**

* * *

"He hasn't woken up yet." Hiyori deadpanned.

"Is he dead?" Love asked all too non-seriously.

"Let's draw stuff on him!" Mashiro yelled out happily while readying a marker. She was swiftly pulled away from the group by Kensei.

"Seriously. Shouldn't he have woken up by now?" Hiyori asked no one in particular.

Ichigo was still sound asleep after the hollow incident and wasn't showing any signs of waking up. Right now he was laying down on a nice big futon with a couple of fluffy pillows supporting his head. Orihime had made the vizard and Urahara group promise to keep Ichigo comfortable before being pulled away by Tatsuki and Rukia to rest up at home.

That was yesterday evening and by now the following morning was in full swing. Having expected him to wake up at this time the vizards were gathered around the human's resting form and staring at him with almost no respect for his personal space.

"I believe that I have the answers to all your questions my dear." Urahara exclaimed with his usual jovial tone of voice while casually fanning himself, drawing the attention of the vizards away from Ichigo for a moment of two. "You see, from what I gathered of Inoue-san's rather hurried expression before she was rudely pulled away from my interview with her…"

"You mean your intrusive cross examination?" Hiyori pointed out.

Urahara ignored the interruption. "According to her most of Ichigo's soul world was destroyed in the battle with his inner hollow. That along with the strain that was being put on him out here…"

"You mean him kicking all of our asses?" Shinji corrected with an annoyed expression.

Again, Urahara ignored the interruption. "As well as the fact that it seems as though during the battle within Kurosaki-san he was sending reiatsu into both himself and Inoue-san. All those factors put together means that he probably won't wake up for another day or two."

"Sleeping in on a school day." Yoruichi chirped as she sauntered up to Urahara while wearing her sexy teacher outfit. "I guess that I'll have to give him some extra-curricular lessons when he wakes up." She purred.

Hiyori blinked. "He's not awake you know. Teasing him doesn't work now."

"Shall I find some manga on the subject so that you may be inspired?" Lisa asked Yoruichi.

"I would appreciate it." The former captain said with a salute. "Well, I'm off to teach and make some boys wet themselves. This job is so much fun." With that she blurred away to go to her pretend work.

"Have fun." Urahara shouted in the general direction of the entrance that lead out of the giant underground training area before turning back to the vizard. "Now then I believe that we should just let Kurosaki-san sleep and get back up in his own time. When he's done that we may begin tormenting he with hellish training as payback for nearly murdering us yesterday. Agreed?" The vizard voiced their consent and went on with their day to day business while leaving Ichigo asleep and completely unable to aid in any possibly dangerous events that might take place during the course of the day.

But what are the odds of something like that happening?

* * *

There was a sharp tension in the air as the morning sunlight filtered into the grim reaper's office in the third division's barracks. Evadne was sitting behind the desk that usually belonged to the division's captain and stared intensely at the communicator that had been used to alert them to Michael's predicament the previous day.

Richard was sitting haphazardly in a corner chair while pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd had an annoying headache since waking up and the silence wasn't giving him enough distractions from it.

The two had been able to get some sleep after Richard and Beileag had reported the events of their mission to the human world. But as neither of the grim reaper captains were the kind of people that liked to wait around without doing anything they had woken up too early. Which, ironically, just led to more waiting as there wasn't much they could do at the moment and the few things that could be done were being taken care of.

"We still need to give the shinigami an evaluation you know." Richard told his dark haired colleague who didn't bother looking at him when responding.

"Dealing with Graystone's situation is more important than telling the easterners what's wrong with them." She muttered.

Richard sighed. "That may be true. But considering their involvement with the vizard I would prefer if we didn't arouse too much suspicions before setting out. Just the arrival of our dear fighting division will cause a stir I'm sure."

"That's what the contingency plan is for." Evadne muttered, a little louder this time to indicate that she didn't care for the conversation.

"Isn't that just in case the shinigami," He thought for a moment before picking an apt word. "Disagrees with our intentions?"

"Which they will." Evadne growled shortly.

Richard restrained a chuckle. The head-captain certainly picked a strange chief for the mission. If it wasn't too much of a bother he'd try to take command over it all.

Evadne slammed her hands on the desk and groaned. "Tell me again what the anomaly said." Apparently Richard wasn't the only one who needed distractions.

The silver haired captain retold the events from the previous day, or rather a much abridged version of them, again, ignoring that it would be the eighth time he did so.

"According to the anomaly, tiny little hollows have infiltrated lieutenant Graystone's body and taken over his mind. He claimed to have no idea where our dear lieutenant was and he tried to hide any relations to Kisuke Urahara."

"And then you attacked him." Richard felt Evadne gaze at him with an incredulous look. He met her eyes and shrugged.

"He was being uncooperative and who the hell would believe a story like that anyway?" He looked up at the ceiling. "Well, the anomaly certainly seemed to do so at the very least."

Evadne raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"It just seemed like he honestly thought that he was telling the truth. Which of course is ridiculous based on the story itself and the fact that he's a vizard and other vizards came to aid him." Richard explained professionally.

"Still," Evadne argued. "I thought that you could see through any lie. If it seemed to you like the anomaly wasn't lying then perhaps there's more to the situation than we know."

Richard sighed again, this time clearly annoyed. "First of all, that's a huge exaggeration of my skills as an interrogator, not that I mind it going around since it makes me look better. Secondly, there are people who can lie to me without me detecting it. Eric for example. Eric lies to me all the time."

Evadne blinked sceptically. "Banes? I've always found him to be annoyingly open and honest about his opinions. I find it very difficult to believe that he'd ever lie. Especially to you."

"Exactly. For as long as I've known him he's never lied to me so I have no idea what he's like when he is lying to me. For all I know he's constantly telling me untruths and I'm falling for it like a sucker." The prison warden reasoned with an all too jovial smirk.

Evadne stared at Richard as if a second and third head had replaced his hands. "The ways in which your mind works are terrifying." She hadn't meant it to be a joke but the prison warden let out a soft chuckle at the comment. "Getting back to the anomaly." Evadne more or less ordered. "You're saying that he seemed to believe his own story without it being an act on his part?"

"Well…" Richard pondered the question for a second. "Yes. I guess that that is what I'm saying. But he's a spiritual anomaly. Who knows how his mind has been affected by that hollow inside of him. Maybe he can't actually see reality for what it is. Either way, I wasn't going to believe such a ridiculous story no matter who told it and certainly not when it's being told by a most dangerous anomaly of a human." Richard groaned and rubbed his head.

Evadne, in a great display of lack of concern for her colleague, ignored the signs that he was discomforted by the situation and continued the conversation. "You make a good point. But that doesn't really help us. We don't know how to find the anomaly or his masked brethren and…"

"He's in Karakura town and I actually stabbed him with one of the splitters, which totally worked by the way. Even if he did want to leave his little stronghold I doubt that he'll be able to do so for the foreseeable future. Once captain Sigfridsson has arrived we can deal with the issue of finding them all. Until then I suggest that we focus on keeping up appearances for the shinigami. Agreed?"

Evadne glared at him with the eyes of a person that doesn't have any counter arguments to what they just heard. "Do you have enough material for some final sounding thoughts?" She asked with an annoyed voice.

"I do believe so. And once lieutenant Lumiére returns from contacting home base I'm certain that we'll be able to write up a professional enough evaluation." He was quiet for a moment. "Should we deal out any correctional suggestions or orders to them?"

"We'll tell them that we're going to assess the need for changes to their organisation. That should give us some time before they start suspecting that we're doing something they're not privy to." Evadne reasoned. She stood to stretch and yawn, giving Richard a quick lecherous moment to appreciate her womanly forms that were rather well-defined when she wasn't wearing her cloak. "Wake your idiot lieutenant. When Lumiére returns inform him that I want something to tell the Shinigami by noon. I'll make sure that our esteemed hosts get the message to gather at that point." She swiftly exited the room, pulling her cloak off the desk and putting it on in one swift motion, before Richard could protest.

As she reached the entrance of the third division she almost walked in to a much shorter person but her reflexes gave her the means to halt herself before the collision took place. The smaller individual however was not as fortunate and fell backwards after walking into the disgruntled captain.

"You should watch where you're going." Evadne reprimanded at the shinigami as she looked down on him. At first she just looked upon him as she would any other random shinigami she'd met during her stay. That is to say, as a speck of dust. But then she recognised him for who he was.

Hanatarou pushed himself up on his own two feet again and franticly dusted himself off. "Sorry, sorry. I was in a bit of a hurry to meet a friend and…" He looked up at the grim reaper's face and immediately wanted to run for his life.

Evadne was glaring down at him with such intense ferocity that it felt like he would be burnt into a cinder at any second. He made a few choppy attempts at excusing himself, hoping that she was just overly sensitive about running into strangers. The dark haired captain leaned down to Hanatarou's face, keeping the medic silent and almost pushing him closer to the ground with the sheer intensity of her unblinking eyes.

"Fairchild in her room." Evadne muttered darkly, her lacking Japanese did nothing to diminish the terror she conveyed. "You stay away and don't come back. Got it!" Hanatarou automatically nodded out of pure shock. Evadne narrowed her eyes just a little to give them more intensity and then she left the quivering medic on the ground.

The furious aura that running into Hanatarou had caused did not dissipate immediately from Evadne's person. For the shinigami that were up and running around performing early morning duties with a slight yawn she acted as a frightening wake up call as she stomped through the streets.

The reasons for her anger were rooted in the simple fact that Evadne wanted to go back to a status quo she recognised. In her mind the best way to do that was to finish the mission as quickly and efficiently as possible, though that was now obviously nothing but a pipe dream. And the best way to do that was to stay as distanced from their hosts as possible. Keep any relations to the shinigami at a professional level and let it stay there. Getting infatuated with one of them and trying to developing that relationship was not a good way of keeping it professional!

It wasn't until the ground cracked under the force of her spiritual pressure that Evadne realised that she needed to take a deep breath and calm herself. With a series of heavy breaths Evadne reasoned that she was the leader of this squad and now that a one their own was missing she needed to keep a cool head.

"_Still. It's best to quell any close relations now. The shinigami can not be trusted when it comes to the vizard and I will not have any lose ends._" She decided and strode forward with determination.

Back at the entrance to the third division Hanatarou was just now managing to get back on his feet, but he couldn't stop the trembling. He looked in the direction that the frustrated grim reaper had marched off to and racked his brain to figure out why she'd so angry with him.

"_I haven't actually met her until just now. It might be something with Lucy-san. Oh no. What if I somehow offended her and now the grim reapers are mad about it and they'll blame all of the shinigami and start a war and it'll be my fault!_" Hanatarou panicked until somebody yelled at him to get out of the way of the entrance.

"Sorry. Sorry. I'm really sorry!" He shouted after the third division officer whom had a rank lower than his own. The encounter was just the kind of normalcy the short medic needed to clear his head. "_Heh, I'm being ridiculous. Starting a war because I offended Lucy-san. That's silly. …but I really hope that I didn't offend her anyway. I should see her, but that captain woman seemed pretty adamant about me not seeing her._" Hanatarou scratched his head trying to decide whether his possible, not-quite-defined relationship with Lucy was worth risking getting a foreign captain even more pissed off.

* * *

In another part of Soul Society Byakuya was heading towards his office with a slightly disgruntled air about his otherwise stoic exterior. He had been unable to figure out what to do with the information he'd gleamed out of the conversation he'd overheard last night. Even a good night's sleep hadn't opened up any new avenues of thought for him. He decided that he would work through some office paperwork and if he hadn't come up with anything more solid by that point he'd contact the other captains and speak to them about it.

"Oh good, you're up captain Kuchiki!" Byakuya stopped at the sound of his name and turned around, coming face to face with Renji who was jogging towards him with a sheet of paper in his hand.

"I always get up at this hour lieutenant Abarai. Just because we have some untrustworthy elements in Soul Society does not mean that I will change my habits." Byakuya explained.

"Right, right. Of course sir." Renji's breath was a bit heavier than usual, more from excitement rather than fatigue. "It's a good thing that you didn't sir because I…" Byakuya held up a hand, silencing his subordinate instantly.

A non-ranked member of the sixth division walked into the corridor, most likely off to do some menial pre-breakfast work. He noticed the two top ranking members of the division standing quietly in the corridor, staring at him. For a few seconds that seemed like an eternity for the poor boy as he was forced to walk past Renji and Byakuya while they followed him with their eyes. Once he got out of their line of sight he started running for his life from the awkward moment, hoping against hope that the sweat hadn't shown too badly on his clothes.

Once the interlude was over Byakuya turned to Renji. "Let us continue the discussion in my office." Byakuya ordered calmly, as was his nature, and the two entered the more private area of the nobleman's personal office and sat down on different sides of the office desk. "I assume that your investigation has finally yielded some results."

"Yes. Or," Renji hesitated for a second. "At least I think so." Byakuya raised an eyebrow, silently asking the lieutenant to continue. "Well, at first when I investigated the files and documents that the grim reapers had taken out I wasn't able to find anything suspicious. They had brought out files on our high-ranking officers and those that were deeply involved with the incidents that are under investigation, so basically the people that they were interviewing, along with files regarding the investigation itself. And they returned the files the day after the interview was done. So far nothing suspicious." Byakuya nodded. "At this point I felt like I was going in circles and I was about to give up when it hit me that they were probably checking out whatever information we have on Ichigo and his group in Karakura town. So I checked out that angle and that's when things started to look a bit odd."

"How so?" Byakuya hid his actual level of interest very well.

"For one thing, they haven't returned any of the files regarding Ichigo or his group. One would think that they would follow the same procedures as they do here and return the files after he interview is over. But it's been several days and no such thing has happened. What's most important is the list of files on people currently residing in Karakura town that most likely won't be up for interviews." Renji handed over the piece of paper he'd been carrying to Byakuya.

"Needless to say, " Renji to continued while Byakuya read the list of names that his lieutenant had jotted down. "This investigation is not as simple as we've been led to believe. At least that's what I think. They might just be really thorough and…"

"No. This is good." Byakuya said, once again recollecting the conversation he'd heard yesterday. "The grim reapers are skilled at hiding their true intents. It will be worth bringing these suspicions up to the other captains. If there is nothing to them then the grim reapers won't mind a little confrontation. Good work."

Renji was about to accept the compliment when a hell butterfly fluttered into the office and relayed a message from the head of the grim reaper investigation team. "All shinigami captains. Meet at the assembly hall at noon. Performance evaluation." Evadne's voice said in authoritative yet slightly mangled Japanese.

Byakuya and Renji shared a look. "It appears as though we will have to move swifter than I anticipated." The head of the Kuchiki household said once the hell butterfly had disappeared. "I shall gather the other captains before this evaluation," A light inflection on the last word hinted at his distaste. "And inform them of your discoveries."

"What should I do captain?" Renji asked, eager to not just sit on his hands. Byakuya's response was therefore rather disappointing.

"You will have to wait and see for the moment. For I do not know where this road will lead. You are dismissed." Renji wanted to protest but he knew that it would be pointless so he stood up, bowed slightly and left the office, making sure to hide his frustration.

Skipping out on his more official duties Renji decided to walk off his annoyance. He knew that it wasn't for personal reasons that his captain had decided that to leave him out of the confrontation with the grim reapers, it was more of a captain's task really. But still, he'd stayed up quite a few nights to go through files and whatnot so he was hoping to be a bit more involved in the conclusion of it all. Also, he felt like he'd forgotten something.

The red-head had reached the third division barracks before he realised that he had indeed missed telling his captain about the mysterious incident he had a few nights earlier and how there was gossip going round about similar things in various corners of Soul Society. It might not be important or it might be vital to whatever the grim reapers were up to. Either way, he was about to turn back and inform Byakuya when he spotted something that drew away his attention completely due to the light oddity of it.

It really wasn't every day that you would see Hanatarou climbing over one of the third division's walls.

* * *

When she woke up Lucy wasn't sure why she felt so miserable or why her face was all sticky and gunky. Then it started to dawn on her. She hoped that it was just a nightmare but the more she thought about the events of the previous day the more real they seemed.

She leaped up from her bed looked around her borrowed room frantically.

"_I need to do something. I need to do… something! What the hell do I do!_" She started pacing around trying to come up with what needed to be done. "_Ok, ok. Calm down. Michael is in grave trouble and you panicking won't help at all._" Taking a few deep breaths the green haired medic managed to gather her thoughts.

"_Michael is missing. According to his message he was being chased down by Ichigo Kurosaki, aka "The Anomaly", and his associates. All of, or at least most of, whom are,_" A light tapping could be heard from the sole window in the room. "_… knocking at my window!_"

She jumped back with her arms in a lame defensive position before she realised how silly that was and when she looked up at the window she saw Hanatarou, or at least his head and hands as he seemed to be hanging outside her window.

Seeing one of the few faces that had constantly remained friendly towards her in her current situation made both relief and excitement run through Lucy's body. Here was somebody that she could talk to without getting chewed out by, she recalled Evadne's cruel words from the previous day. Lucy ran up to the window and opened it with great haste to greet her newest friend.

"Hi!" She practically yelled at her fellow medic, unable to properly contain all of her conflicting emotions. "Boy am I glad to see you."

"Oh good, I was worried that you…" Hanatarou began but stopped once he got a good look at her face. "Have you been crying?"

Lucy blinked a little having not realised what a mess she looked like. She turned her head and made a closer inspection of herself in the window reflection. After crying herself to sleep Lucy had apparently continued weeping as evidenced by her red eyes and smudged mascara.

"Well. Yeah I have, obviously." Lucy muttered. "Look, something's happened to my friend Michael who was sent to the human world and I don't know what to do or who to talk to." With each word Lucy's voice became more strained and more desperate. Of course she showed no regard for the probability that this was supposed to be classified information.

Hanatarou blinked at the rather urgent information that had just now been dumped on him. After thinking for a few seconds he carefully, as though he was walking through a verbal minefield, put a few suggestions out in the air.

"Does your captains know about this?"

"Of course they do and I think that they're doing something. But they told me to sit and wait in my room because I'm… a liability because…". They looked at each other as a crushing realisation came to Lucy. "…because I hang out with you and the shinigami women a lot."

A moment of strained silence settled between them as Lucy blushed with embarrassment and felt like she would like to put her head through a wall. "_Ok. I may be a bit of liability concerning information. But… I don't know how to finish that thought. Wonderful._"

Being a nice kind of guy Hanatarou decided to ignore Lucy's faux pas and try to help the grim reaper instead by reassuring her. "Well, if it happened in the human world then I'm sure that things will be ok. That's were Ichigo-san lives and he always saves people and why are you staring at me like that?"

An incredulous look spiced with the occasional eye twitched had appeared on Lucy's face and it was kind of making Hanatarou freak out, though Hanatarou's version of a freak out is rather lame really, and Lucy's raised voice didn't help much either.

"It's 'Ichigo-san' that attacked Michael!" She screeched with a voice that implied that Hanatarou was being foolish as she recalled the message from the previous day.

Hanatarou's response was near-instantaneous. "No. No. Ichigo-san wouldn't do anything like that. He's a good person who…"

"He's a vizard!" Lucy countered. "He's a monster that's just waiting to be unleashed so that he can tear apart everything and everyone around him!"

Hanatarou shook his head fiercely in denial, both of Ichigo's supposed monstrosity and of Lucy's heart-wrenching opinions. "You haven't met him! He's the kind of person that puts himself in mortal danger to save his friends and will help you even if you've just barely met each other and…"

"Well now he's hurt my friend!" Lucy's face had turned bright red in anger. "Don't you get it! His soul is part hollow! A monster that consumes souls to sate its own primal hunger! It doesn't matter who he was or what he did before! Now he's just a freak, a horrible anomaly that shouldn't exist!"

"ICHIGO IS A HERO!" Never before had Hanatarou's voice reached those decibel levels nor had there been as much finality in his words.

They stared at each other for a few minutes. Anger, disbelief and hurt colouring both of their eyes. Lucy was however the first of the two to start shedding tears.

"Get out." She growled, all of her recent anger and frustration now aimed directly at Hanatarou.

Hanatarou, suddenly realising that he was in a full blow serious argument, tried to quickly patch things up. "No. Wait. I'm sorry. I just…"

"GO! AWAY!" And with that Lucy slammed her windows shut, making the boy she might've had a deeper feelings for painfully fall to the ground.

Just at that moment Beileag, who wasn't quite finished with her morning routine, kicked Lucy's door down and rushed into the room, her battle-scythe ready for action. "What's going on? I heard screams and I came as fast as I could."

"Nothing." Lucy lied, trying to hold back her tears. "I just had a bad dream. About Michael and… and…" She started sobbing so violently that she couldn't get a word out.

At that point Beileag dropped her soul slayer and rushed over to hug her friend, never minding the details of why she was standing up by the window if she'd just woken up from a nightmare.

"It's ok. It's ok buddy." Beileag said with a soothing voice while patting her taller friends' back. "Michael's tough, he'll survive long enough for us to find him. And we will find him. Captain Hawkins and Nicodéme are two of the smartest guys I know and we're getting reinforcements from," She had to restrain herself from spitting out the next few words. "The second division." Lucy looked into her friend's smiling eyes, hope slowly returning to her own. "So don't worry. This'll be over in no time. Before that happens, let's get you cleaned up nicely. Gotta look your best for a rescue mission."

While Beileag lead her green haired friend to the nearest bathroom Hanatarou was morosely trudging away from the Lucy's bedroom window. At least until he too was greeted by a helpful red-head.

"Morning seventh seat Yamada." Renji said good-naturedly from atop the wall surrounding the third division barracks. "You look like a man who's having a spout of girl trouble."

Hanatarou blinked at the sudden appearance of the sixth division lieutenant. "Ehm.. well…"

"Come and eat some morning dumplings with me," Interrupting Hanatarou was apparently in fashion. "And tell me all about it." Renji smirked as Hanatarou considered the proposition he really didn't have any say in. It appeared as though Renji's involvement in this whole mess was just beginning.

* * *

A limb was stretched. So was another. Tests were conclusive. The anatomy of grim puppet were limited in length and great in restrictions. If his own cunning and words were not required the grim puppet would move itself to his desires.

"This is you, Leiiaborous?" His grand partner asked. Cautious of any treachery from the grim one.

"It is me inside the grim puppet. Yes." The touch of ages was missing from this voice. But it was not missing in darkness.

"Your absence." The giant growled. "How long will it be?"

"Great and complex are both the road and task of my choosing. So there is no answer for the present time. Let our mutual trust remain though. In that upon homecoming I shall bring more power than we could imagine and that I shall find my dwellings unvisited." Leiiaborous hissed out of his borrowed form, adjusting its voice to his suitability.

"Agreed." The giant was expected to return to his army. But he did not. Not at once. "Today shall be the day that the heroes of the human world know my wrath and power. I shall bring my elite and make them fear the name Raxthorun! But don't worry about the aberrations. They will not be granted any rest even for one day." With that he lumbered back into their home.

Boast and exposition. Leiiaborous sighed, an uncommon occurrence caused by his grim puppet's habits, the dull were truly conventional creatures. Although the risk was there he did not believe that his dull partner would perish in the announced assault and the supposed elite were an expenditure that would be replaced and exceeded by the new power to come.

One feet belonging to the grim puppet moved. It did not fall over. Pleased at this success its master coaxed it further on. Distance was always such a problematic hurdle.

Luckily the world is full of shortcuts. If one knew the trick to it.

* * *

"Line up!" Harribel yelled, similar to a drill sergeant and her group of about 25 or so many arrancars did just that. The former trecera espada walked back and forth in front of her troops a few times, gauging the look in their eyes.

A few of them had true loyalty in their gaze and a sense of unity that made them completely reliable. However, most only followed her and her comrades because of the large difference in power between them. With Aizen's unifying influence and manipulation gone they were so unsure of who to follow and what to do that it was enough to be near those stronger than themselves.

Harribel wanted to create something a bit more stable than that in the long run. She just didn't know how. But for the present purpose of dealing with their attackers her superior power would be enough.

"I hope that most of you would know the drill by now. But for those who do not here it is. Those with long range get up on the roof top and the pillars to launch our first wave. Should the enemy push through that those of us who are close combat oriented shall rush the enemy while our long ranged attackers take more precise shots at our opponents. Any questions!" It wasn't really a question for questions, Harribel just wanted to make sure that they were all listening by daring them to reveal their ignorance.

After a short nervous silence Harribel was about to tell them all to go to their stations when she noticed something most annoying. One of her soldiers was missing. This was especially noticeable because the girl in question was very loud and annoying. Kind of like Apache, Mila-Rose and Sun Sun had been before she got used to them Harribel reasoned.

Suppressing the urge to growl, she had to remain composed in front of the troops, Harribel walked up to the missing girl's closest comrade. "Where is your friend?" She asked the rather plain looking arrancar, who was almost too nervous to answer.

"She is… not here. Because," She hurried to add as Harribel's eyes narrowed at the lame answer. "She… went to… the human world." Turns out that Harribel's eyes are just as terrifying wide open as they are narrowed.

"Why is she in the human world?" The tone indicated that it probably wasn't a good idea to lie to the blonde woman.

"I don't know. That's the truth. I swear it." Harribel let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "However," The brown haired arrancar muttered. "She did like Aizen quite a lot more than your average arrancar and wanted to please him and she could be kind of jealous. Especially of that human girl with the terrifying powers."

Swiftly the arrancar was lifted by the front of her shirt to Harribel's eye-level. "What are you saying Menoly?" The espada demanded.

Menoly felt really sorry for her friend but as she'd already shown she didn't have the courage to lie. "I think that Loly's gone to the human world in order to kill Inoue Orihime."

The announcement sent a stir through the ranks of the small group. Orihime's arrival days before was still a topic of much debate and discussion within Las Dias. This time Harribel really did growl. She owed her life and that of her closest subordinates, her friends really, to Inoue Orihime. The girl seemed to have revived them without wanting payment of any sort. Such compassion was unheard of in Hueco Mundo and it was enough for Harribel to hold Orihime in the highest regard. Secretly she even had plans to use Orihime as a sort of symbol to use as an argument for a coalition with the human world.

So it's only natural that if the healer was threatened by some stupid Aizen worshipping arrancar under Harribel's command she'd get just a wee bit pissed.

"I shall flay the skin off of her body." Harribel muttered as her entire being lit up with golden reiatsu and she unceremoniously dropped Menoly to the sandy ground.

Unfortunately she didn't exactly have time for any of that. "Incoming!" Apache roared, focusing all of the assembled arrancar's attention on the horizon where the usual army of gillians was treading towards the arrancar fortress.

"_Damnit! I need to protect Inoue-san. But I can't leave this place. Not now. Let's see, Starrk is most likely asleep and waking him would take too long. Grimmjow obviously hasn't shown up like he should. And last time I saw Neliel she was still in her child form. What do we have besides the gillian this time._" She focused on the opposing army and spotted a total of seven adjuchas class hollows, one of which was giant-sized. She then looked back at her group.

_I don't even know if they'd win, never mind survive against these opponents. Not for sure anyway. I'll finish this quickly._"

She sharply turned to face the arrancar in front of her while pulling out her zanpakuto. Her skirt fluttered because of the sudden motion and fire burned in her eyes. As always Tia Harribel made for a fearsome sight.

"Get to your stations at once! Those of you with long ranged powers start firing at those bastards at once!" She turned back to face their approaching foes. "Just make sure that you don't hit me. Everybody else stay back until they're half a mile away." A golden aura surrounded her body once again as she blasted off towards the approaching army.

* * *

"So did you get all that?" Richard asked Evadne as they made their way up the stairs leading to the captain assembly hall. The day seemed to have crawled on horribly slowly. But they had everything set up and just needed to pull off this charade.

"Most of it. But what does it matter? You're the one who's going to be doing most if not all of the talking here." She muttered loudly, clearly not at all interested in continuing dealing with the shinigami.

"Yes, that's true. But the chief of an investigation should know the results of said investigation." Richard reasoned as they reached the large hall door.

"Results that you and Lumiére threw together in a couple of hours you mean." Though her voice was dull the bite of the comment was still very effective.

"Fair point." Richard conceded and started pushing the door open. "Cheer up. Lieutenant Lumiére said that captain Sigfridsson and his group would arrive by the end of the day. Once this meeting is over we can get on to the other part of the mission and save lieutenant Graystone at the same time and then we can all go home in triumph." Evadne smiled at the prospect of going home as Richard pushed the doors open, revealing that all nine of the shinigami captains awaiting their guests.

"Look at that. We've got a full audience this time around. How pleasant." Richard said genuinely. Instead of the usual two lines on either side of the room the shinigami captains all stood together in one line in front of the deceased captain commander's chair. Their white haori's a stark contrast to the two grim reapers black robes, Richard had decided that the meeting was formal enough to pull out his reserve.

There was nothing really suspicious about the way the captains acted, Richard figured that they just stood together to take whatever he and his associate brought as a group. Those that greeted them did so in their own usual way. Any sense of hostility was missing from the room. But there was something in their eyes. Something that made Richard prepare for the worst.

"Now then," Richard started, his smile not wavering in the least. "Shall we begin?" He held up a scroll, unfurled it and presented the results of their investigation.

"As far as the incident and war with Aizen goes our conclusion is that there was nothing really wrong with the actions you took, how you responded to the threat or your overall performance." He smirked a little as the gathered shinigami all got fairly surprised looks from hearing these results.

"Our reasoning for this is that the situation was quite remarkable in and of itself. The enemy had planned for a little over a hundred years and was prepared for pretty much every contingency and had managed to keep it all hidden through the use of a most devious power. Once the deception had been revealed you all responded quickly and acted in a way one would expect you too considering the circumstances. Despite the loss of three captains the affected divisions handled it rather professionally and were all able to carry on despite some problems. So overall, well done. I was actually kind of impressed with it all."

He watched the shinigami exchange a few prideful glances with each other before delivering his first real blow. "However, I did find a lot of problems outside of these incidents that I feel should be brought up."

Eyebrows rose up, lips curled into frowns and outbursts of disagreement were restrained. Instead Shunsui met the prison warden's eyes and spoke in his usual calm voice. "And what were those problems?"

"Well." Richard thought for a moment. Evadne gave him a glancing glare, thinking that he was procrastinating. Sadly she hadn't really listened to her colleague's brief rundown of what they'd tell the shinigami so she couldn't really expedite the whole thing.

"_I hate this mission._" The grumpy beauty muttered in her head and listened to Richard counting down the list they'd made from their findings.

"First of all you have that thing as a captain." Richard said with a hard expression and pointed at Mayuri. "A madman who is more concerned with his very questionable experiments than he is about the people around him."

Everybody in the room looked over to Mayuri to see how he would react to the accusation.

"Yeah. So?" The mad scientist said with a completely unconcerned expression.

"You turn your subordinates into bombs without their consent, do you not?" Richard stated without hiding his distaste.

"They're my people aren't they?" Mayuri responded making it necessary for his fellow shinigami to suppress the urge to groan.

"It's not the way a captain should act. Or what do the rest of you think?" He directed the uncomfortable question to the other eight captains but it was Mayuri that answered it.

"My purpose here is not to mollycoddle my staff or to act with honour as a captain. I am here because our recently perished captain commander preferred that the skills and knowledge I posses were put to use for the benefit of the Gotei 13 rather than in opposition of it. Being a captain is merely the best position for me to be in as it grants me the authority needed to properly continue my research, which requires certain sacrifices. In return my loyalty is pledged to the greater power of the Gotei 13. The Gotei 13 benefit from all this as much as I do. Your accusations based on fool-hardy ideals are of little concern to me."

The room was stunned into silence for few moments. It was not really what Mayuri had said, but rather the assuredness with which he'd said it. As though it was all fact to him, which it probably was. Really, everybody knew why Mayuri was around and what he did. It was just one of those uncomfortable things that nobody brought up. But now that it was dragged out like this some of the assembled shinigami wondered if it was time to do something about it. As soon as the grim reapers were gone that is.

Richard was mostly annoyed that his first real point of argument had been so readily rejected. His normally smiling face twisted itself for a second in rage before he reeled it in hoping that nobody had noticed.

Byakuya took note of it.

"That's up for debate my dear madman. And it is far from the only flaw we have found around here. Nor are you to only questionable choice for a captain." Richard fully turned his attention towards his scrolland began reciting the contents on the list rather rapidly.

"Besides the psychopath over there a few of the ones you consider fit to be in your ranks are a child who, despite his maturity, is still barely in control of his emotions concerning things close to him."

The temperature started sinking a bit.

"A brute who would disregard his duty for the sake of the thrill he experiences in combat."

"How is that a problem?" Kenpachi asked seriously.

"And a quite plainly sick man that I'm worried about just by looking at him."

"Now now. While I may be sick it isn…" A most inappropriate and awkwardly long coughing fit interrupted Juushiro before he could defend his position.

"There're also quite a few oddities amongst your lieutenants." Richard continued once Juushiro has assured everybody that he was ok. "Like the girl at the fifth division who still clearly needs a therapist. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't think that she's all that ready to lead a division without a captain. In the second division you have a fat idiot who bought his way to that position." Nobody tried to disagree with the last bit. "Your fighting division has a pink haired girl thing as a lieutenant and one of your divisions hasn't even had a lieutenant for a long time. It's not exactly a glowing standard you guys have here." Richard said professionally.

"Is this really that much of a problem?" Shunsui reasoned. "As you've said just a moment ago, we worked just fine during the whole business with Aizen. What harm do a few colourful personalities do when things are working out?"

Richard blinked and then he smirked. "You misunderstood what I said before. I said that you all acted appropriately in accordance to the situation. The results of your actions however is another business altogether." He started counting down on his list again. Only this time he took his time doing it.

"For one thing you not only completely failed to stop Aizen and his plans. You also failed in dealing with the small invasion force that got into your headquarters. Later on the leader of said invasion force, a teen and spiritual anomaly, ended up being the one to defeat Aizen. Had it not been for this Ichigo Kurosaki then we might not be having this pleasant conversation." The gray haired captain was being glared at by several of his shinigami hosts. But he didn't indicate any discomfort by this and continued before he could be interrupted.

"Then there's the fact that you have yet to properly reorganise yet. You're down four captains, one of the missing positions being your captain commander, and from what we've gathered your Central 46 is sure taking its sweet time being re-established." Richard would've continued by Soifon managed to stop him right there.

"Oh that's ridiculous. Re-establishing the Central 46 isn't even our responsibility. That's up to the royal family's workers." She pointed out with a sharp tone laced with indignation and annoyance.

"This is true." Richard agreed. "It's not your fault but it does show that you're all still in a state of disorganisation. Which doesn't help your situation or how we view it." Soifon's eyebrows burrowed as Richard met the assassain's wrathful eyes with a horribly friendly smile.

Ignoring the eyes that wished to stab him Richard finished up the evaluation. "And lastly, you guys have yet to deal with the vizard threat. That alone is a pretty damn big problem if you ask us."

Anger suddenly faded away from most of the eyes of the shinigami mellowed and they shared a look between each other. Toshiro decided to take the floor. "What do you mean exactly by 'the vizard threat'? Didn't you read the reports? The vizard group provided a vital help in defeating Aizen's strongest arrancar."

"Yeah. And then they ran away like the criminals that they are and there hasn't been any attempt from them to make any contact with you or anything of the like. That is the suspicious behaviour of fugitives that know that they're in the wrong." Richard said with an increasingly harsher tone of voice.

"In what way are they wrong?" Retsu asked with her gentle yet firm voice. "If you are referring to their unfortunate situation as beings with the power of both shinigami and hollow then that is not the fault of the vizard that aided us. It was Aizen that turned them all into vizards. No blame can be put on them." She reasoned calmly.

"They are vizard!" Evadne practically roared and took a heavy step forward. "They are ruthless monsters. You believe them to be normal persons. That is wrong. They will kill all sooner or later. We know. Best to just crush them quickly." It appeared as though Evadne would continue her rant when Richard put a hand on her shoulder. The female captain snapped her head to glare at her male associate and was met by an uncharacteristically solemn expression on the prison warden's visage.

Richard gave Evadne a meaningful gaze and shook his head lightly. Evadne deflated and the two regained their composure in front of the shinigami who were carefully observing their guests.

"What was that about?" Byakuya's question was more of an order that he demanded the two to answer.

Naturally Richard refused, politely so. "Apologies but that is none of your business. And even if we considered it to be your business we're not allowed to speak much more about it."

"Does it have anything to do with your secondary mission?" The sixth division captain asked with his usual superior and dignified tone of voice. It was merely a guess to be honest. A guess that was based on the results of Renji's investigation as well as what he had overheard the previous night. Byakuya had even informed the other captains about his suspicions but they had all agreed to bring it up once Evadne and Richard were finished with their presentation of their findings.

But Byakuya wasn't about to miss a golden opportunity.

And it paid off because both of the grim reapers had clear reactions to the question. Richard's was limited to a widening of the eyes and an overly large smile that remained on his face for all of two seconds, sort of like a practiced reflex against these kinds of situations.

Evadne's reaction was a bit more obvious.

"How the hell do you know about..?" Richard quickly slapped a hand over Evadne's mouth but that only aggravated the damage already done.

Byakuya took their reactions as a cue to explain his question. "For each of your interviews with us captains and our subordinates you pulled out our personal files to research us first from our eastern perspective, which is a reasonable form of research. Once the respective interviews were over you returned the corresponding files to their place in our systemas you should. There are however several files that you have yet to return. Files that contain information about a group of people that no longer function as a part of this organisation."

Richard narrowed his eyes, his smile having shrunk to a thin line of hostility. "What of it?"

"The files I speak of contain information regarding the vizard group led by Shinji Hirako. They are a secretive group and attempting to interview them would not aid in determining whether we function as we should or not. Your outburst indicates that you have hostile feelings towards vizards in general. This and the fact that you didn't inform us of any interest in the vizard has led me to suspect that you have a secondary mission, one concerning the vizard that you do not wish us to know about. Based on these observation I would make an educated guess and say that you are going to hunt the vizard. Am I right?"

A silence settled in the assembly hall. The kind of silence that allows you to hear the smallest of rustles from the softest of fabrics. Richard gave a strained look to Evadne who was breathing heavily as she pressed her palm to her face. "Just… Just tell them already… So much for keeping a freaking secret… Damn, we suck." She growled in her native tongue.

Richard sighed before adjusting his expression back to a friendly smile. "My my. I didn't know that you were such a little detective, captain Kuchiki. Nicely done. And you're kind of right. We are going to go after the vizard group that aided you against Sosuke Aizen. But the word hunt is really just too vague as it implies various possible outcomes to the activity."

He chuckled and let the shinigami captains momentarily see the side of Richard Hawkins that Lucy has nightmares about. His eyes darkened and his mouth curved into a wicked grin, giving him a slightly mad appearance.

"We're just going to kill all of them."

* * *

**Eugh. The ending for this chapter was really tricky to pull off. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do here. I'm still not 100% that this is the best move at this point but it's what I'm going with. Hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review.**


	18. Their reasons for killing

**Hi. Real life took a lot longer to handle than I thought it would so that affected the production of this chapter. That's just the kind of stuff that happens. But here it is finally and as an added bonus I'm putting up a brief summary of the story on my front page so that you can take a look at that if you forgotten some things. I've tried to make it somewhat informative without being spoilerific. That said, let's get on with the chapter.**

* * *

"We're just going to kill all of them."

There was a short, tense pause after the words had left Richard's mouth. The shinigami stared at the grim reaper who only smirked at their shock. Even Evadne glared at her colleague, thinking that he could've phrased the truth less incriminatingly.

Once the shock had passed the protests came in a large variety of forms.

Toshiro and Komamura rather loudly told the two grim reapers that they had no reason to take the vizard's lives.

Shunsui, Juushiro and Retsu took a calmer approach by trying to defend the vizards with logic and structured explanations.

Soifon glared at the two increasingly annoying guests.

Kenpachi just scratched his ear and wondered why he should care about a bunch of guys he just met wanting to kill a bunch of guys he'd never met at all.

Mayrui honestly didn't give a shit.

Byakuya observed the grim reaper in silence.

It was something of a mess to hear anything that the captains so in a rather ironic turns it was Richard that silenced the room by loudly clapping his hands together a few times.

"I'm sensing some disagreement here." The gray haired man said, his smirk never disappearing from his lips. "And I wonder why. We're just doing what we're all supposed to do to those whose souls are of unnatural mixtures. Perhaps one of youcould explain where this deviation from the declared laws of our society is coming from."

The shinigami exchanged glances and Retsu stepped forward. "I can understand why our appreciation of the vizard may seem strange to you. I remember the days when even just suggesting the possibility of a union between the souls of shinigami and arrancar was met with severe reprimands. But the events of this last year has made us question we were taught about the subject."

Neither Richard nor Evadne said anything, allowing Retsu to continue.

"For us the vizard appeared out of nowhere and treated us as allies in the battle against Aizen despite having been sentenced to death by our superiors. If it hadn't been for them a fair number of my comrades would've perished against Aizen's espada." Toshiro and Soifon kept their disagreement about requiring the vizards' aid to denying mutters while Kyoraku nodded calmly at the medic captain's words.

"The laws regarding vizards and the like were created without any real knowledge about them. Fear dictated what were to be done with them and fear prevented anybody from pursuing the intricacies of the matter any further. At least, it was impossible to do so without being labelled a criminal. But as the vizard group led by Shinji Hirako showed that day, vizards aren't necessarily malevolent beings. So it is our belief that vizard and the laws regarding them should be reconsidered. Though, I doubt that you will agree with this assessment since you do not share the experience. I hope that our word is enough to at least make you reconsider the matter before going forward with it."

Richard faced Retsu's motherly smile with a blank expression for a few minutes before responding with a flat yet somehow taunting voice.

"It's not."

As the shinigami captains' eyes widened Richard quickly elaborated to avoid any interruptions. "As touching as your story is," He began with his usual polite and conversational voice. "It really doesn't hold any weight for us or our mission. The law is the law and that is what we follow. You're welcome to try and change it if you so wish. But until then Shinji Hirako and his group are criminals by their very existence and must be dealt with as the law commands."

The grim reaper tilted his head down slightly, as if to avoid eye contact. "Besides," His tone was now dark and foreboding. "There have been research done in regards to vizards and their behaviour." He chuckled inwards at the stunned surprise emanating from the shinigami. "Sanctioned research preformed by an old colleague of ours. The results were very conclusive. As far as we're concerned vizards are beings of destruction that are just waiting to tear out of their hosts and kill whatever they see. It's better for the world to just kill them and end the threat there before they become a real problem."

A tense silence settled in the great hall.

"And what of Kurosaki Ichigo?" Toshiro questioned harshly.

"What of him?" Richard retorted conversationally.

"He's a vizard too. Are you going to kill him as well?" Toshiro asked, understanding fully well that he didn't have to actually explain himself.

"He's a conundrum to say the least." Richard answered in a way that made it sound like he was thinking out loud rather than directly talking to another person. "What to do with a human who might turn into a monster before he dies? Personally I would lock him up just to be safe…"

A sudden and intense but subtle burst of killing intent washed over the two grim reapers, stopping Richard mid-sentence. Evadne's reiatsu flared up in response but Richard just grinned and resisted the urge to chuckle.

"_Yeesh. This punk is popular._" The prison warden held up his hands in a calming manner. "Now now. There's no need for that. Until the matter has been properly assessed Ichigo Kurosaki is completely safe. That's why we sent an operative to the human world after all. To see if Kurosaki is on the level."

"And what has this operative told you so far?" Byakuya quickly and coolly questioned.

Richard blinked a few times as he considered how annoying the head of the Kuchiki house was being with his questions. With supreme effort Richard avoided revealing anything spontaneously and responded. "Young lieutenant Graystone has been disappointingly inefficient. We will deal with that matter once this meeting is over."

"He is the lieutenant of your captain-commander?" Byakuya asked rather impolitely.

"Yes he is." Richard answered automatically as a tiny suspicion slipped through his mind and he held in a curse as Byakuya asked the follow-up question that the grey-haired captain feared.

"Then he is the lieutenant that's missing." Evadne sent a sharp glare in at Richard, figuring that the breech in information was his fault.

Richard responded with a counterglare that ignored any authority that Evadne had over him. "Don't look at me like that. I'm the one doing all the work here." He said loudly in their native language, ignoring any pretence that things were going the way they wanted them to.

"Perhaps," Juushiro began as he was one of the few shinigami present that wasn't containing a certain amount of smugness. "It would be best if you explained things from the beginning."

Both grim reapers sent each other a grumpy eye before mentally sighing and deciding that it was best to stay on the same side. "_Oh well. At least we don't have any other breeches of information._" Richard reasoned while becoming more and more exhausted with the problems that were piling up.

* * *

Renji had expected his meeting with Hanatarou to yield interesting and exciting new information that would further his involvement in the investigation of the grim reapers exponentially. That might still happen but it he needed to wade through a veritable sea of whining from a Hanatarou, who for once actually was miserable rather than just looking the part.

"And after we ate lunch I showed her that giant cherry blossom tree outside the fifth division and we thought it was nice and we said that we should eat lunch by it some time but now that might not happen and…" Hanatarou's voice gave out and he was reduced to whimpering into the table.

It was the twelfth time it happened by Renji's count.

The red-head sighed quietly and kept his annoyance to himself. Because he was honestly sympathetic with the oft-mocked medic and figured that if he focused on the virtue of patience he would be rewarded. At least he hoped that was the case.

"And," Hanatarou sniffled and lifted his head temporarily to make eye-contact with Renji. "I was really starting to like her." He lowered his face onto the table again and looked so depressed that Renji momentarily forgot his current ambitions and actually reached out to comfort his friend.

"It's ok." He reached over to pat the medic on the shoulder. "All couples fight you know. Though I guess that it's not a good thing for it to happen so early in a relationship." Hanatarou groaned loudly into the table, as anybody would at such poor words of consolation.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm sure it's not that serious anyway." Renji said, trying to save the situation but that just caused Hanatarou to groan even worse.

"Yes it is." The short man complained.

"Come on." Renji urged. "It's just a case off…" And that's when his face turned as red as his hair in embarrassment as he realised that he didn't actually know what Hanatarou and Lucy had been fighting about. Hoping that he hadn't missed it being mentioned Renji cautiously asked Hanatarou about the reason why his possible girlfriend was angry.

"It's because the guy they sent to the human world has gone missing and they suspect that Ichigo-san and his vizard friends are responsible and when I said that it was impossible for Ichigo-san to do something wicked like that Lucy got really mad." An entire minute of silence ticked by. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

Renji had stopped blinking and was trying to come up with an appropriate response. "Yeah. You're probably right." Was the best he could come up with since what he just heard was just the thing he'd been waiting for.

The question now was what to do with this information. Rushing away to inform Ichigo about it would be something that Ichigo would do and Renji is much smarter than that, according to himself.

"_Should I inform captain Kuchiki, or does he already know? Maybe I should try keeping a closer eye on our esteemed guests to figure out their next move. Or maybe…_"

A combined groan and whimper pulled the red-head out of his musings. He regarded the seriously unhappy Hanatarou for a moment. "_Or maybe I should take some time to help this guy out before I start hunting for sensation and glory._" And with that Renji temporarily pulled himself out of the events that were transpiring to kindly help out his fellow man.

* * *

Dizziness coursed his mind like a storming river.

The grim puppet was clearly inferior to his own spiritual dwelling. Spatial voyages would not discomfort him this way otherwise.

But his arrival was assured at least and he was stumbling through grim territory.

Upon salvaging his wits from his exodus, Leiiaborous began moving his grim puppet in the plentiful shadows of a forest. For hours he did so as the lands changed. Withering and falling apart the closer he moved.

Not caring to count time Leiiaborous was unaware of the hour when he reached it.

A black circle. Leaves broke to dust as they touched it. The ground was sinking around it. Power leaked out and polluted everything.

Leiiaborous stretched out a puppet limb in the air above the circle and pulled it back instantly as he felt a wicked presence that would rip and devour whatever it wanted.

It was here.

A complicated undertaking was facing him.

How to enter the circle?

* * *

"…and now we're just waiting for back-up. When they arrive later today we will go into the real world and retrieve lieutenant Graystone." Richard finished, his voice somewhat hoarse from recounting the events behind his group's current behaviour. Though, he had left out a few small details.

"And kill the vizards." Byakuya interjected, earning a large smile from Richard.

"Well, we have to get around to that at some point." The grey haired captain reasoned.

"Look," Shunsui interjected before Byakuya and Richard put aside pleasantries and started tearing into each other. "I understand that you're under a lot of pressure and that you wish to just take off and save your comrade and punish whoever it is that's hurt him." The two grim reapers narrowed their eyes at the implication that the vizards weren't the one who hurt their subordinate. "The fact that you're both able to stay so calm is a testament of your level heads."

"_We're not that easy to flatter._" The prison warden muttered in his head.

"But please take a step back and reconsider your options a bit further. Wouldn't it be better if some of us joined your search? The vizard will most likely be more willing to appear than if you go alone and perhaps we can get you to see our point of view in regards to how complicated matters with the vizard are."

A heavy silence covered the room and Richard and Evadne considered the proposal. Outright refusing it would just lead to more discussions, which would be aggravating and time-consuming. At the same time there could be some value in bringing a shinigami along to lure some of the vizards out of hiding. Of course, there was no guarantee that would work or that it wasn't a trap, they still weren't sure what kind of relationship the shinigami actually had with the vizard group. And even if it wasn't a trap the shinigami didn't quite seem to comprehend that they had been planning on dealing with the vizards whether Michael had been kidnapped or not.

No matter how he turned it there were pros and cons with all possible scenarios and Richard knew he needed to discuss things with his appointed commander. But he also realised that the shinigami most likely wouldn't give them the time to discuss matters thus forcing them to go with the option of bringing along a shinigami captain which would probably jus be a hassle.

"_What we really need now is a distraction of some sort. Preferably one that benefits us more than them._"

Apparently the gods of well timed coincidences were on Richard's side this day. Because just as he finished that thought a hell butterfly fluttered into the room. It silently flew up to the two reapers and addressed them with Nicodéme's voice.

"Apologies for interrupting but I felt that it would be prudent to inform you that captain Sigfridsson and his team have arrived rather early." The hell butterfly dispersed into nothingness after the message was delivered and Richard flashed his assembled hosts a big grin, sending a chill down most of their spines.

"Oh my. Looks like we're going to have to put this meeting on hold for a bit so that you can meet our reinforcements."

* * *

**Ten minutes earlier, in a forest south of the Gotei 13 HQ**

Beileag grumbled bitterly as her hair whipped all around her head and an uncanny light shone on her face. It was a rather odd reaction when faced with a bright and shining tunnel that led from one end of the world to the other through the use of complex spells and other intricate machinations that most people, Beileag especially, wouldn't understand.

Part of it was that she'd already walked through the thing when she and the other grim reapers who were currently visiting the east first arrived, so any awe that might be felt had already passed for her. But mostly she was grumpy because of who was coming through it this time around.

"They are going to aid us in saving lieutenant Graystone you know. You could show some gratitude." Nicodéme said with diplomatic voice as he held up his hands from which yellow energy bands connected him to the tunnel thus keeping it open and stable.

"I will." Beileag muttered. "I'll show it by not pointing out how much they'll slow us down when they do that or gloat when I need to save their asses."

"I fear that captain Hawkins is having a bad influence on you. I've had this fear for fifteen years now you know." Nicodéme was about to continue but Beileag beat him to the punch.

"I fear that captain Kneller is going to blow you up one day and the rest of us with you but you don't hear me bitching about it." The red head said with a sharp tone, indicating that if the conversation continued it'd turn ugly. Nicodéme shut up as he didn't need the stress of talking about his captain and imagining what terror the man was inflicting upon his surroundings during Nicodéme's absence.

"They're getting close now." Nicodéme said conversationally after a few minutes as a few dark shapes appeared towards the end of the tunnel and they were steadily moving closer at a walking pace.

"Goodie." Beileag said under her breath as four figures dressed in the concealing hooded cloaks of the grim reapers stepped out of the portal.

Three of them were fairly average sized while the last one to exit the portal was frighteningly large. You could just feel the raw power emanating from the giant in spades. Even Beileag reluctantly straightened out her back in this presence.

One of the average sized reapers stepped forward while pulling back his hood and addressing the two lieutenants. "Lieutenant Lumiére, lieutenant Greer, always a pleasure to, even if the circumstances could've been better." It was a dark skinned man with short, neatly trimmed black hair that ended with a short, rather contrasting, ponytail and the most professional expression that Beileag ever cared to witness. A scythe with an armlong handle and freshly polished blade was strapped to his back.

Nicodéme bowed lightly in greeting as he closed the portal. "Likewise lieutenant Wilson. It is very reassuring to see so many of the second division's top members present."

"Of course it is." A confident, bordering on arrogant, voice said and the grim reaper to the right of Wilson pulled his hood back so that he could run a hand through his shoulder-length, spiky red hair. His other hand loosely held his scythe, which had a long, thin handle and a long indescribably sharp blade. "Every last one from our division is worth at least three of any other division's fighters."

Lieutenant Wilson was about to admonish his comrade for disrespecting his colleagues' abilities when the other redhead present spoke her mind. "Dwaah. Listen to the cute little fourth-seater trying to make himself sound big."

The male red head rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner and scoffed in a most natural fashion. "Hah. That's rich coming from a third division dwarf." He extenuated his words by bending down to look Beileag in the eyes.

The shorter reaper didn't miss a beat and responded with a brilliant smile that didn't gel with her horrid tone. "And that's funny coming from a guy who makes less money than his much awesomer little sister. Tell me again, how does it feel to be a shame to the family?"

An exaggeration perhaps, but apparently it was a touchy subject because in the blink of an eye the fourth seat reached out to strangle Beileag but he was pulled back by the third of the average-sized grim reapers, though this one was noticeably taller than the two men.

"Settle down fourth seat Greer." The grim reaper said with a harsh female voice as she pulled her red-headed comrade away from the prison lieutenant. In the struggle her hood got knocked off, revealing a woman with a sharp face marred by a number of scars, crystal clear blue eyes and flowing blonde hair that was allowed to cascade down her shoulders after being imprisoned within the dark confines of the hood.

"You are of the second division. Show some dignity!" The blonde ordered. "Or so help me," She pulled a heavy looking scythe off her back and held it threateningly in the air. "I'll be forced to punish you."

The male Greer instantly calmed down and stood down, prompting the blonde to release him.

"Well done third seat de Wit." The massive grim reaper in the back said with a booming voice as he pulled back his hood. In simple terms this man was ruggedly handsome. He had the kind of face that was macho enough for men to instantly think it look tough cool yet handsome enough to make most women swoon at the mere sight of it. He had light blonde hair that was perfectly trimmed and a well-groomed beard that covered the lower half of his face. A large, very heavy-looking scythe with a black blade was strapped to his back. Stern, dark blue eyes methodically scanned the area before settling on the two grim reapers that were there to greet him and his team.

"Lieutenant Lumiére. Lieutenant Greer." He greeted with a stoic expression.

"Captain Sigfridsson." Nicodéme returned the courtesy. Beileag just straightened her back and said nothing, the most respect she'd ever show the imposing man before her. "I thank you all for arriving on such a short notice."

"I should've come with the rest of you from the beginning." Nicodéme shivered at the deep and harsh voice.

"Captain Erasmus wanted this to be a peaceful mission. For as long as possible that is, and…"

"I know her reasons. But I didn't agree with them. Unfortunately the captain-commander gave captain Erasmus the main authority over this mission."

"And see where that brought us." Iain sniggered beneath and instantly regretted it when his captain glared in his direction.

"This is not a joking matter Greer. The life of a comrade is at stake. Take us to the rest of your little troop so that we may get to saving lieutenant Graystone." Nicodéme nodded and hastily lead the second division members towards the castle. Captain Sigfridsson followed with a steady step that indicated he was usually the one in front. His subordinates walked after their captain in a casual march.

Beileag stood still for a few minutes, took a deep breath and then followed the rest of the group while muttering curses, hoping that her former captain wouldn't hear her.

* * *

"Euuhhhhhhhhhh…" Loly moaned as she stumbled down the street that led to Orihime's home. Her already invisible body was further concealed against spiritually aware people by a cloak that she'd stolen from Aizen's supply closet before the former espada members had destroyed Las Noches.

"Hungry… so hungry." The arrancar's stomach agreed with her as it grumbled painfully. Her hunt for regular hollows to eat had gone impossibly bad. Each time she'd neared one of the voracious beings an arrow bright blue energy had pierced their masks and killed them. And that kept happening like a bad comedy routine until she could barely move out of starvation.

"_Songs should be sung about me just for being able to walk in this condition._" As the food-gods seemed intent on mocking her endlessly Loly decided to move on to her original plan and aimed herself at Inoue Orihime.

"_Soon… soon this will be over and I can get to eat. I just have to find the princess and…_" Loly's train of thoughts stopped as she noticed the very person that had was her goal for this little exhausting excursion.

Orihime was walking the down the street in the opposite direction with Tatsuki by her side. The two of them talking animatedly about something Loly couldn't hear nor bring herself to care about. She just needed to walk five meters, reveal herself and then finally properly begin her mission.

"So I think that a chocolate-chip and mayonnaise bottom would be great for with my ramen cake." Orihime mused excitedly as she swung her school bag around in the happiest manner possible.

Tatsuki smirked at her best friend's behaviour while dodging the schoolbag at regular intervals. "That's nice Orihime but is that really what you want to talk about?"

"Of course it is Tatsuki-chan!" The strawberry haired healer said with what Tatsuki would call a hilariously serious pout as she got up in the karate practitioner's face. "You must always put as much thought and consideration as possible into every dish in your mind. That way each one will be a delectable memory for life. Isn't that a wonderful thought worth spending some time on?"

"Sure it is buddy." Tatsuki decided to have some fun with her friend. "But are you sure that you don't want to talk about something else. Like something that happened yesterday while you were inside Ichigo?" Tatsuki got a satisfying yelp and a striking blush from the other girl. "And that's related to an answer that he's apparently promised to…"

"STOP!" Orihime suddenly screeched, resulting in the two girls staring at each other. Confusion shining in Tatsuki's eyes while apprehension filled Orihime's.

The healer sighed and explained herself. "I am happy that I finally confessed and that me and Ichigo will have a talk about it and all. I'm happy to just be happy about it. Do you understand?" Tatsuki nodded for Orihime to continue. "But if I start to talk about it I'll really start to think about it and then I'll just start to think about bad outcomes and I don't really want to do that."

Tatsuki had to keep herself from chuckling at how cute she found her friend's meekness. So she opted to smile lightly instead. "I get it. You've thrown yourself out there and done pretty much the only thing you really could do. Now it's all in Ichigo's hands and you can't do anything but wait." Orihime nodded. "It's ok Orihime. Waiting is always scary. Especially when it's for a big moment. But you'll be fine. Regardless of what kind of answer that lazy ass Ichigo gives you, you'll be fine." She gave Orihime a reassuring grip on the shoulder. "Until then however let's assume he'll give you a positive answer and just talk about food and other stuff. OK?"

Orihime nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I'd like…" Orihime's eyes widened suddenly and she quickly pushed Tatsuki away when a shimmering green needle that was as long an arm hit her in the neck. The healer instantly went stiff and started falling.

Tatsuki reacted quick enough to catch the healer before she hit the ground. "What the hell just happened?!" The dark haired girl yelled at nobody in particular. Orihime's eyes had glazed over but remained open and she was still breathing, Tatsuki let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Best she could tell Orihime was paralysed and she guessed that the needle was too blame. Before she could decide on what to do a shrill breath made itself heard right above the two teen.

Instead of looking up and wasting precious second Tatsuki jumped to the side, with Orihime in her arms, just in time to see a long white pincer stab into the ground where they had been.

"_**Thin little girls without meat are tasteless. But orders are orders. So don't move any more, thin little girl. When I am done here I can eat other fatter treats.**_"

It was a hollow with a mantis-like lower body that was as large as a car. The upper body was that of a thin woman with the arms ending in long pincers that were strong enough to destroy concrete. The mask was thinner than most other hollows, its teeth where long and razor-sharp and dark green cracks formed a crooked x-shape in middle of the whole thing. Long and wild brown hair was hanging out from the head giving her a deranged appearance.

A thousand thoughts race through Tatsuki's head and she tried to decide on what to do when the hollow charged at them. The black haired girl tried to move run back but slipped due to shock and momentarily forgot the extra weight she was carrying.

"_SHIT!_" She yelled in her head as she saw death approaching them.

When the hollow was inches away from them a pair of white and black boots appeared out of nowhere and slammed feet-first into the hollow's face just as the legs and body that was wearing the boots materialised in front of Tatsuki's eyes.

The hollow was sent crashing across the street and a girl with black hair put up in twin-tails and dressed in all white landed ungracefully before the humans. Hunger had made its mark on Loly. She was breathing heavily and sweating even though the attack had been pretty simple. Loly hoped that she could deal with her opponent in this condition.

"_Nothing else to it I guess._" She thought with a sigh and glanced back to where Tatsuki still hadn't moved from her fallen position.

"Th…thanks." Tatsuki breathe out. "That was really damn close. Who are…?"

"Shut up human. If you have time for talking then run instead of sitting there like an idiot." Loly grumbled.

"Hey. Watch the attitude." Tatsuki responded in a natural reaction.

"I said, SHUT UP!" Loly roared as she got up in Tatsuki's face. "And take her away from here." She pointed down to the still paralysed Orihime. "I'm trying to save the princess here and I'd rather not screw up because some girly moron turned out to be stupid!"

Normally Tatsuki would respond equally fiercely but the sudden shift from serious girly talk to unexpected assault and rescue from physical spirits and then getting yelled at by a rude stranger confused her brain. So she resorted to the most tried and true response of people with confused brains.

"Huh?"

* * *

**Ok. Next chapter is going to be action-packed and will include one of the team-ups I've been dying to write since I started this fic. Should be fun. Please review and tell me what you think.**


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